Lanice & Pene Waitai – Te Rarawa
Taniwha Oysters is a small whānau business established in 2015 based out of Awanui (Te Tai Tokerau). They recently launched their new flat-bottomed oyster barge named ‘Poutama’. Poutama is proud to support Taniwha Oysters with the fabrication of this vessel, through the Provincial Growth Fund Programme. This programme seeks to support Māori SMEs in regional Aotearoa with grant funding that can be utilised to purchase capital items that help grow and scale the business and create new jobs.
Taniwha Oysters is proudly owned by whānau members, Xavier Dromgool, as well as husband and wife duo Pene and Lanice Waitai. They are proud to create jobs for local people and currently employ five full time employees, and up to 10 seasonal workers.
The business farms and grows pacific oysters north of Tāmaki Makaurau (in Mahurangi) and in Te Tai Tokerau (Kerikeri, Rangaunu and Parengarenga). The farms are a mixture of wild stick and hatchery grown oysters.
Taniwha Oysters provides quality oysters to customers across Aotearoa, and exporters to international markets.
