This article is part of our Supplier Stories series, where we share the people and stories behind the products in our gift boxes.
In the small Far North community of Taipa, seawater becomes salt with the help of sun, buckets and time. You will find The Taipa Salt Pig’s Natural Sea Salt in our Notable Northland Gift Box and our Vegan Gift Box, and the way it is made is about as simple as food gets.
A Business Built on Sunshine and Patience
The Taipa Salt Pig started on a Far North property with a simple idea. Collect clear seawater by hand from Cable Bay, carry it home in two 20-litre stainless steel buckets, and let the sun do the rest. There are no pumps and no noisy machinery, and collecting stops after heavy rain, when runoff from the land can reach the water. It is slow, weather dependent work, as one of the founders told the NZ Herald.
Humidity is not our friend in this business.
Nothing Added, Nothing Rushed
Each batch of salt takes three to five weeks to form, and the weather decides how long. The ingredients list reads salt water, sunshine, time and patience.
The result is a natural sea salt made without additives or shortcuts. It has picked up medals at the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards along the way, including a gold for the Citrus Zest Salt.
Kept Simple on Purpose
What began as one couple’s project is now the work of a small team of Taipa locals. The plan has always been to grow without adding pumps or machinery, so the seawater is still carried by hand and the sun still does the drying.
Every pinch you add to dinner is a few weeks of Far North weather, and every box you send helps a small coastal producer keep doing things the slow way.
Northland, In Every Box
Region Northland
Location Taipa, Far North
Product we stock Natural Sea Salt
Find it in Notable Northland Gift Box and Vegan Gift Box
Every We Love Local gift box also includes a 1% donation through the One Percent Collective, which supports charities across Aotearoa.
You will find The Taipa Salt Pig’s Natural Sea Salt in our Notable Northland Gift Box, together with fellow Northland makers Kai Ora, Due North Foods and Olives On The Hill, and in our Vegan Gift Box. If you are looking for a corporate gift made as simply as possible, this is the kind of salt that earns its place in the box.
