Whakapapa | Our Roots

Enriched by whānau, community, whakapapa, and the land beneath our feet.

Hemp for health of land and people

From our KANAPU Hempery farms in Waimārama and Otāne, we grow hemp for health of whenua and whānau. And as we stand on the arable lands of the Indigenous people of Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, we channel the energy of our ancestors. From Māhia Peninsula in the north to the south-eastern tip of Te Ika-a-Māui, for centuries, local tribe Ngāti Kahungunu have walked, farmed and lived off this same land and sea. It is our greatest honour, our privilege, to work within the principles of kaitiakitanga to improve this land for generations to come.

As Ngāti Kahungunu, KANAPU Hempery co-founders Isaac (Wairoa) and Lou (Wairarapa) represent the northern and southern extremities of these ancestral lands. For co-founder Kirby, Waimārama harbours significance as a landing place of her ancestors in the Takitimu canoe on their voyage south to Te Waipounamu and Karitāne. And for fourth-generation Otāne farmer and fellow co-founder Simon, the lands traditionally named Kaikora Plains form the beating heart of his own family stories.

It’s fitting, then, that we have put down our roots near the centre of this great region – with history as rich as the deep, dark alluvial soil. And wherever we’ve travelled, when we feel this land beneath our feet, we feel the connection of home.