Professional rugby player Riki Hoeata is now a smooth(ie) operator.
He and his and partner Ellen run New Zealand's only smoothie kit subscription business - Craft Smoothie.
Riki Hoeata of Craft Smoothie Photo: Craft Smoothie
In 2015, Riki - a former Taranaki lock - received a head injury that eventually ended his professional rugby career.
It was a tough pill to swallow when you've put so many eggs in one basket and had been living out your dream, Riki tells Kathryn Ryan.
But finishing up rugby also opened up many doors, he says, and even though concussion symptoms held him back a bit, he and Ellen launched Craft Smoothie
Rugby players get good advice from nutritionists on what they need to put into bodies to perform, Riki says.
In the nine years when he was simultaneously working and playing professional rugby, smoothies were a natural fit for him.
"I found smoothies were the easiest way to pack as much nutrition in, get to training, perform at the highest level that I could."
Riki thought there'd be a lot of other New Zealanders out there who would also be time-poor.
Craft Smoothie's subscribers tend to be people that are super busy, he says, especially sportspeople and mothers wanting to get greens into their kids.
"Parents just want to feed their kids something that they know is good for them but also isn't too time-consuming when time is of the essence."
Craft Smoothie focuses on whole-food nutrition - nuts, seeds, superfoods and fresh local produce, inlcuding Taranaki berries.
All you need to make up their smoothies is a blender and whatever liquid you want to add, Riki says.
Generally, smoothies are made with milk but Craft Smoothies are created to work well with water - something a lot of people have never tried, Riki says.
"If we could nail [the smoothie mix] with [just] water and have all your nutrients in there, we thought that was the best approach."
A Craft Smoothie subscription works like a My Food Bag subscription, he says, with a new smoothie recipe every week.
"It's everything in a box to make superfood smoothies at home."
