Joseph was approached by a South Island couple who owned several dairy farms wanting to develop their own retail milk brand. The husband knew Joseph’s work from many years earlier developing the Māori-led brand story of Tohu Wines and how this narrative was the bridgehead for Tohu being such an export success at the time. Simon was keen to see how Joseph could do something similar based around the Ngāi Tahu heritage of his wife Jen as he too had visions of exporting milk powder once the NZ retail brand was established. Simon had good personal relationships inside the Foodstuffs Group - in particular with his local New World store owner where his retail brand would be ranged from the outset.
Joseph pitched to them the brand name Koha Milk and a brand-led marketing idea based around a branded milk truck fitted out with a coffee machine, milk-shake & smoothie makers, fresh-fruit ice-cream machines and chillers full of Koha milk. Community groups could book & borrow this truck for free for their fund-raisers, selling smoothies, milk shakes, coffees and any other product (ice-cream) made with their retail branded milk - Koha Milk. Did I mention all the milk inside the truck comes free with the truck. The ‘idea’ was each town/city would have its own Koha Milk Truck activating in-store sales of the milk to those people who already had a brand relationship with the milk from having had an ice-cream or smoothie at the rugby club or school fair aware ALL the proceeds from their ice-cream went to the recipient community cause because Koha Milk, koha’d all the milk.
Joseph was keen too to push the envelope and embrace the dual heritage of both Jen and Simon and explore both their Māori/Celtic roots in the brand identity. Sadly soon after developing the brand the couple parted and didn’t end up paying for the work so Joseph pitched the concept to several Māori dairy farmers to gauge their interest in developing their own retail brand and while they all showed interest they each never progressed into putting milk into their own bottles.
