ABOUT US
MEET THE FOUNDER
Katerina Scott with her husband Gary Scott - Founders of Nutrakawa New Zealand Limited
From the top of Maunga Motatau looking down upon the summit of Matori and to the valley of Pipiwai where our Te Orewai whanaunga reside. In the old days the path between Motatau and Pipiwai was well trodden as previous generations travelled the tracks by horse or on foot. On the far right is Hikurangi maunga
Mōtatau marae is in the heart of Mōtatau, off State Highway One south of Kawakawa. The principal hapu is Ngāti Te Tarawa of the iwi of Ngāti Hine.
Mōtatau marae was built in the 1920s. The wharenui is named Manu Koroki and the wharekai is Mihiwira.
Katerina Scott
Founder & Head of Development
PEPEHA:
Ko Motatau te maunga
Ko Taikirau te awa
Ko Ngatokimatawhaorua te waka
Ko Motatau te marae
Ko Manu Koroki te whare tupuna
Ko Ngati Te Tarawa te hapu
Ko Katerina Scott ahau
English Translation of PEPEHA:
Place where the baby took it’s first breath
Motatau the mountain
Taikirau the river
Ngatokimatawhaorua the canoe
Motatau the Marae
Ko Manu Koroki the Ancestral house
Ngati Te Tarawa the sub-tribe of Ngati Hine
Ngati Hine the tribe
I am Katerina Scott
Katerina's experience with severe illness in 2003, prompted her to seek alternative and complementary treatments. This major life event inspired her to look deeply into her Maori culture, which birthed Nutrakawa.
"I have seen people suffer over the years with illnesses. I have watched them religiously take their medication, which stabilised their condition. Through my journey, I have learnt that prescribed medicine is critical, and I have great respect for the doctors and their knowledge.
Prescribed medication has side effects - as with anything we put in our bodies. For some, this is almost as bad as the condition they are suffering. I have learned to live in two worlds, prescribed medication, and the power of natural wellness, gifted to me from my culture - traditional Maori Rongoā.
This unique gift rooted in traditional Maori Rongoa is slow-acting, natural, non-aggravating to the body as well as benefiting health and wellbeing. We believe this gift is a gift of life, a gift of hope and a gift of compassion introduced in harmony with conventional medicine, to work in a holistic and complementary approach to a well-balanced life."
OUR PROCESS
Our first step is to gather all the natural ingredients and place them into the Kete. We collect a variety of plants and herbs such as Kawakawa, Kumarahou and Burdock Root, depending on which products we are producing.
We harvest all our ingredients, sustainably and ethically. Katerina personally has permission from Atua to gather these ingredients, so she picks, cleans, processes and packages all our products.
WE GATHER & CLEAN
The next step is cleaning the beautiful ingredients we gathered from the native forest in the hills behind the Bay of Islands.
We do not use any chemicals during the entire process - just simple, traditional methods. These plants are already pure being from deep in protected forests, away from any pesticides, fumes or other damaging substances. During the cleaning stage, we wash all the ingredients thoroughly - sometimes twice.
Our cleaning stage is where we boil our ingredients until it has reached a specific temperature for a specified duration of time. We do not want to overdo this stage as we want to keep the natural healing molecules intact.
We then strain the boiled liquid through 100% pure cotton, locally custom made and hand sewn for this step in our process.
WE PROCESS & PACKAGE
It is important to note that the entire process is measured, monitored and takes place in a controlled environment inspected and approved The Ministry of Primary industries.
We also believe in zero waste. Because our ingredients are so rich in nutrients, all by-products from processing are either used as compost or, put back into the forest to nourish the native bush. This value stems from Maori culture - what you take must be returned.
Our beautiful natural product is then packaged in shatter-proof glass bottles (and pots for our balms) as required by the local council for health and safety as well as to protect and preserve our products.
Our core values align with natural, eco-friendly and sustainable methods, which is why we always welcome you to return your used containers to us so that we may re-use them for more people to enjoy.
You can also recycle or re-use the fantastic glass packaging.