Māori-owned and operated family business Anihana handcrafts natural body and hair care products that are sustainable from production to packaging with ingredients that are safe, affordable, and smell divine.
Despite the challenges, their product has made its way on shelves not only in Aotearoa but also in America.
While expecting their first child, the owners of Anihana, Sophie and Aden Cooper of Ngāpuhi, decided to start their own business.
Sophie says, “I was a florist at the time but I used to sell the soaps and bath bombs. I was just about to go on maternity leave with my daughter, Beau Anihana.”
“I jokingly said to Aden, 'hey shall we buy this business and next minute we have a new baby and a new business at the same time'.”
Products a hit overseas
In the past five years, owners of Anihana, Sophie and Aden Cooper of Ngāpuhi caught the attention of buyers overseas.
Aden says their main focus was to launch their products throughout Aotearoa and Australian markets but grasped the opportunity to launch it beyond as well.
“We actually got the opportunity to talk to the Target buyer early. We thought the intention was to get in front of them, show them what we've got and then potentially in two years' time launch,” he says.
“What ended up happening was that they were so impressed with the product offering and the brand story that they wanted to take the products straight away.”
Sophie says one of their best-selling products and a favourite of hers too is the Raspberry Marshmallow bath bomb.
“It's one of our signature products and it's my favourite too but we've seen our shower steamers really taking off, especially in Target in the US now,” she says.
Story behind the name
Anihana is the Māori translation of their family name Anderson, a name that was chosen to represent their strong connection to family values as a company.
“It's our daughter's middle name. I was pregnant with her when we first started the business and it is also Aden's late mother's maiden name,” says Sophie.
Aden says, “I wanted to honour obviously my mother and the strength she showed but also our daughter as well who shows very similar characteristics to my mother.”
Coping despite Covid
Regardless of the impacts of Covid, their business continues to thrive.
Sophie says, “It's a bit more challenging now with Omicron, but we're doing okay, got a couple of people isolating. The main thing is just making sure our staff and their families are safe.”
“The steamer, the peppermint and eucalyptus is really good if you've got a blocked nose, so we're expecting to see a bit of a rise in sales in those coming up soon.”
Anihana plans to extend their product further overseas to the UK to be able to give back to their wider community by helping the younger generation to strive.