The Aotea Story

Aotea 1979

Over 40 years ago, the Hanson family first established Aotea*. Together in 1979, Peter & Joan found and built Aotea from scratch - always keeping quality New Zealand products at the heart of their business. Growing from here, Aotea expanded its arms to retail stores across the country and multiple online platforms for their global customers to learn, shop and enjoy New Zealand products.

A Kiwi Lifestyle

 

As a family, the Hanson’s embrace New Zealand nature, have an active lifestyle in the outdoors and enjoy a balanced diet. As a typical Kiwi family, Joan and Peter raised the family very much the New Zealand way. The family loves skiing, boating, mountain biking and gardening. Running a family business was Peter’s passion and he was well known for his hard-working ethic. Peter always maintained a hands-on working approach, knowing each employee by name and what really matters to them. He also travelled extensively in New Zealand and around the world to explore business opportunities.

The Hanson Family

Aotea has since passed on to the next generation. The two sons, Richard and Donald, continue to develop Aotea by bringing the best of New Zealand healthy, Manuka honey & skincare brands to customers around the globe. Richard leads the product development and financial side of the business whereas Donald focuses on marketing and online business development.