This article is part of our Supplier Stories series, where we share the people and stories behind the products in our gift boxes.
When we set out to find more Taranaki producers for our gift boxes, Treasured Morning’s high protein granola stood out straight away. It comes from a home kitchen in New Plymouth, where founder Liz O’Callaghan turned her own breakfast frustration into a small batch business that now features in our Tasty Taranaki Gift Box.
A Breakfast Problem Liz Decided To Solve Herself
Liz started Treasured Morning while working through her own health journey. She wanted to lose weight and was told to add more protein to her mornings, but cooking eggs every day felt impossible, and nothing on the supermarket shelf fit what she needed. So she began making her own granola at home, working with a food technologist to settle on a recipe built around almonds, chia seeds, hemp hearts and hemp protein powder.
She originally used free range egg whites until New Zealand’s egg shortage forced a switch to hemp instead, a change that ended up working in her favour. Hemp delivers all nine essential amino acids, supports joint health, and is grown right here in New Zealand, while being gentler on digestion than many protein powders.
In an interview with Live Magazine, Liz put it simply:
I ended up losing 20kgs by incorporating more protein, which helped kill cravings.
She started by dropping zip lock bags of homemade granola off to her gym friends. By 2021, Treasured Morning had become her full time focus.
Small Batches, Built On Real Ingredients
Treasured Morning makes five flavours of high protein granola: Apple Crumble, Berry, Carrot Cake, Peach and Nectarine, and The Honey One. Every batch is gluten free, made without refined sugar or fillers, and built around almonds, chia seeds, dates and hemp protein sourced from New Zealand growers, including hemp grown in Levin. The range is also certified vegan.
The Apple Crumble flavour was named a finalist in the Pantry Award category at the 2024 New Zealand Food Awards, recognition for a product that started life in zip lock bags handed out at the gym.
Liz traces the whole business back to her own search for a better way to start the day. She has found her customers are driven less by weight loss goals these days and more by wanting quality, wholesome ingredients in their mornings, whatever their reason for reaching for the bag.
Rooted In Taranaki
Treasured Morning draws its inspiration from the Taranaki landscape, including the view of Taranaki Maunga from Liz’s home kitchen in New Plymouth. A small team has grown around her, with Greg looking after production and Sophie handling marketing.
Packaging is recyclable, ingredients are sourced from New Zealand growers wherever possible, and every batch is kept small to stay fresh and cut down on waste, values that line up closely with what we look for in the producers we choose to feature.
Taranaki, In Every Box
- Region: Taranaki
- Charity supported: A 1% donation from sales of our Taranaki gift box supports causes including Sustainable Coastlines and Bellyful, through One Percent Collective.
- Find it in: Tasty Taranaki Gift Box
You’ll find Treasured Morning granola in our Tasty Taranaki Gift Box alongside fellow Taranaki producers Malva Chocolate and MK Spice, and in our Healthy Habits Gift Box, built for anyone chasing better mornings.
Looking for a gift box for someone who takes their breakfast seriously, or want to put together a corporate gift for your team? Treasured Morning is a lovely place to start.
