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VANESSA LAURIE/Stuff
Rachel Bernhardi came up with the recipe for Mister K crackers and is still involved in making them.
A desire to make healthy, low-carb crackers has turned into a successful business for two South Taranaki mothers.
Rachel Bernhardi and Lisa Ratahi’s gourmet crackers, called Mister K, were now sold in more than 80 stores around the country as well as on their website.
It’s going so well they have taken on three employees and are building a new factory to ramp up production of the nibbles, that sell for $12 for a 120 gram bag.
Their adventure began when Bernhardi was following a low-carb diet and wanted to make some crackers that fitted in with that and also tasted good, she said.
“There was nothing out there or they were dry. We like crackers and cheese and stuff, and we wanted good crackers, so I just played around a bit – for our own dinner parties.”
She eventually came up with the winning recipe that uses lupin flour, which they import.
“It’s the best low-carb flour available. And it tastes good. It also has loads of health benefits.”
The crackers are jammed full of superfoods, seeds, high quality olive oil, she said. They’re also high in protein and fibre.
The friends started off with three flavours and have recently added a fourth.
“I just thought about what goes together well. Rosemary and garlic go well together, you need sea salt, you need something spicy, so why not chilli and cheese? The latest flavour is curry and onion, and I was inspired by curry and onion bread. That’s a nice alternative.”
VANESSA LAURIE/Stuff
Bernhardi and her friend Lisa Ratahi started their business by selling Bernhardi’s crackers at markets.
They wanted to mention keto in the name, but the crackers were for everyone, she said.
“So Mister K is like a wink to the big keto following that’s out there.”
When they first started making the crackers all their friends were asking for them, Ratahi said.
“So we thought why don’t we make some and bag them and take them to the markets.”
Then they had to decide whether they kept going to markets or whether they went commercial, Ratahi said.
VANESSA LAURIE/Stuff
Mister K is stocked in more than 80 stores around the country.
“The more we got into it the more compliance that was needed. We had to send them away to be tested for shelf life to Massey University.”
And there was a lot of work to do around the claims they made on the packets – no dairy, no gluten, no wheat, keto, paleo and vegan.
Decisions needed to be made around moisture content in the packaging, because the crackers were preservative free, and need to have a long shelf life to go into supermarkets, she said.
“We had to change our packaging. We really wanted to see our product because it looks good, but that window (in the packet) decreased shelf life, so we had to take that out. There was a lot of adjusting along the way to make it fit what we wanted to sell and what we wanted to market.”
At the beginning they had a low budget and did everything themselves.
“It was an absolute nightmare trying to find someone to design a machine to make the crackers. It took five engineers because they all specialised in different parts needed to make this machine to press and cut them.”
They now have three staff and were building a new shed on Ratahi’s Hāwera property, that will include a commercial kitchen, packing area, laundry, and staff bathroom.
Their old space was 70m2. The new one is 300m2.
The friends have a lot of plans for the future of their business, but were taking it slowly, Ratahi said.
“We’ve learned a lot along the way.”
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