7 October 2021
Eco-friendly Fertiliser Business Growing Strong
A group of Mount Aspiring College students have produced an Eco-friendly spray fertiliser for indoor plants, through the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) programme.
The group of five Year 13 students have been successfully selling their fertiliser at the local Wanaka Artisan Market and also on their website https://sprout-tonic.mystorbie.com/
Made of three key ingredients – seaweed, tea leaves and tea tree oil, the recipe came after a lot of testing and research for a period of six months.
All of the students have a passion for gardening, particularly indoor plants and from there Sprout Tonic was born.
“Another huge focus for us was staying small and close to our community during the production stages, ensuring that we are sourcing our ingredients regionally and we are staying as local as possible, CEO Maddi Frazer said.
The company’s vision is to help every indoor gardener embellish their lives with greenery.
Maddi said it has definitely been a journey to develop the product, “and making sure it had all the right ingredients that a plant needs.”
Sourcing much of the ingredients themselves, including the seaweed off coastal beaches around Otago, their business idea was in a world of their own.
“We wanted to do something innovative, and that hasn’t been done before.There are fertilisers for your garden, so we thought what about house plants?”
Already the group has had really good feedback and created repeat customers, advertising on community Facebook pages, Instagram and in their school newsletter.
With their initial batch of 100 bottles selling well, they will be hoping for a second round, and then reassess the company’s future after that.
Published by What’s on Invers – 7 October 2021