Taste of Nelson
Irecently discovered a very cool, very smart Nelson business that has made such an impact in a very short time. I can’t cover everything I like about the people and the business in one column; so here’s part one with part two to follow next week.
For this column I want to focus on Jamin Brown, how he got to where he is and how his work history drives his relentless determination to grow a small business into a significant one for the Nelson Tasman region. Part two will focus on his collaborations and future plans – plans that are exciting.
You may remember this region was hit by a devastating hail storm on Boxing Day 2020 that impacted fruit growing areas right across the region.
In late 2020, Cedenco had closed their juicing plant on Nayland Rd and moved the operation to Hawke’s Bay meaning orchardists didn’t have anywhere in the region to send hail damaged fruit for processing into juice, until Jamin Brown from Mad Melon stepped up and offered to take the fruit and process it into juice.
The response was so big it transformed the Mad Melon business from a small startup business manufacturing watermelon juice to one that has become an important part of the fruit and juice sector in the region, including the use and distribution of by-product created by others and Mad Melon.
Mad Melon is a small juicing operation that was established in 2019 when Jamin thought there was a place in the market for a watermelon-based fruit drink that is packed with flavour but without huge amounts of added sugar.
‘‘I love watermelon but not the seeds so wanted to find a way of enjoying it without having to spit out the seeds’’ he says.
Mad Melon started business processing watermelons that are grown for them in Tonga and today they make a pure watermelon juice as well as using a blend of both apple juice and watermelon juice in their naturally flavoured, no-added-sugar drinks like Melonade.
For Jamin it made sense to ramp up production to help orchardists process their damaged fruit and to also take the opportunity to access a significant amount of fruit for his business.
‘‘The focus was always on becoming an exporter but now more than ever it is really important for us to step up and work together, maintaining export income for New Zealand while keeping opportunity in the Nelson region.’’
This attitude of growing a business by helping others and working collaboratively with a range of loosely associated businesses in the region is a refreshing approach for such a new business. Normally the focus for people with a new business is totally on their business, but Jamin understands the importance of working collaboratively to grow production in the region and to grow exports of those products.
Jamin told me his life experiences and the opportunities others have given him have helped shape his determination to succeed. ‘‘I was born in Timaru and grew up on the road in a house truck, I was home schooled as we moved around the South Island. We came to Nelson in 2001 for work in the orchard sector and have been here ever since.’’
His mum, Celese, who is now part of the Mad Melon team says: ‘‘Look at him now, I am extremely proud of the man he has become and the things he has achieved.’’
Jamin’s first job was at Birdhurst Orchards in Motueka as a box maker. ‘‘It was my introduction to fruit and we have used a lot of the things we learnt there in terms of production in this business. We’ve just added little twists to the processes to suit our current needs.’’
After working at Birdhurst he completed a trade certificate while working at Fairview Aluminium in Nelson, owned at the time by Dion Griffiths.
‘‘I learnt a lot about business from him, he was a real key influencer on my life.’’
Then it was on to owning a small trucking company from 2013 to 2019 that specialised in hauling glass sheets.
‘‘Driving along one day I thought that when I no longer enjoy truck driving, I would leave the industry and do something in the food, medicine or fuel sectors. I picked food.
‘‘I love watermelon and walked through the supermarkets to see what they didn’t have; watermelon juice was one of those things.’’
Jamin started out making watermelon juice, but he soon found that demand for processing juice in the region is huge.
‘‘There’s plenty of raw material but only so many places you can send bulk apple juice, so we started our own brand. Apple juice didn’t fit in the watermelon brand hence the Country Fresh brand for apple and pear juices. We have a gold kiwifruit juice due for release in first week of September for summer as well as a watermelon and pineapple juice.’’
In part two of the Mad Melon story I will tell you about the Mad Melon people and some of the collaborations Jamin has established, as well as a few of, what I think are, the secrets to Jamin’s success.
In the meantime he says: ‘‘We really want to thank our suppliers, our people and customers for their support because it hasn’t been an easy road to get here. Without that support wewouldn’t be here. A lot of people want us to be successful and that’s really important for the region.
‘‘One of the many retailers that stocks our products is The General Grocer in St Vincent St and Wednesday will see us having a promotion launch with them where we will be giving away juice cartons and a Mad Melon T-shirt so drop in and see what we’re doing at their place.’’