Kohu Road was founded in 2007 by husband and wife team, Greg and Yayoi Hall. After a 15 year journey, travelling across Europe and Asia, searching for the sublime and exceptional in food and culture, people and places, all roads lead home to New Zealand. They bought a house in the foothills of the Waitakere Ranges and filled it with latest kitchen gadgets – most importantly of all a $59.99 ice cream maker from Farmers. They capitalised on Yayoi’s experience as a chef de cuisine and began experimenting with the finest, natural ingredients from around the world, making batches of ice cream for family and friends, and selling by the scoop at a local farmer’s market. The response was overwhelming with customers claiming it was the best ice cream they’d ever tasted, and it soon became clear this would no longer be a part-time hobby for Greg and Yayoi. The first tub of Kohu Road ice cream was sold to Farro Fresh in 2008 and the rest, as they say, is history. The team spoke to the pair about their journey.
What is the current product range and variants and how do these products stand out in the market?
“We know that consumers are looking for more choice and we want everyone to be able to enjoy our ice cream, regardless of their dietary requirements or personal beliefs. As such, almost all of our variants are gluten-free and a number are dairy-free, vegan-friendly, halal and kosher. We believe in keeping things simple, using real, natural ingredients and crafting each flavour by hand to create the best tasting ice cream in New Zealand.”
What are the plans for the business moving forward, is there any expansion on the horizon?
“We recently started exporting to Asia which had been a dream of ours for quite some time. We’d love Kohu Road to be available all over the world but New Zealand is still our number one focus.”
Has there been any recent company news?
“We recently scooped a number of medals at the New Zealand Ice Cream Awards. We received three silver medals for our Dark Chocolate, Flat White and Strawberries & Chocolate and one gold medal for our mouth-watering Matcha Green Tea. We also earned ourselves a couple of golds, plus a ‘Best in category’ for an exciting new project we’ve been working on. Our new project will be launching in September/October 2017 so stay tuned!”
Where are your products currently available to buy, and are you looking at or wanting to expand your availability?
“Our products are available in Farro Fresh and Moore Wilson’s, as well as selected New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square stores.”
