New Zealand is a small island nation located in the middle of the wild Southern Ocean. There is no land between New Zealand and the last true wilderness—Antarctica.
This means the ocean currents surrounding New Zealand bring the freshest, cleanest and most abundant waters directly to our shores. As a result, New Zealand wild pāua are amongst the healthiest, strongest and most organically pure in the world.
Wild New Zealand pāua is sustainably harvested from some of the most remote, wild and exposed coastlines on the planet, meaning the product landed to your table is the purest, cleanest and most intensely flavoured abalone available.
Wild New Zealand pāua is caught by hand—or, to use a local term, “pāua diving”—with the majority caught by free diving without the use of scuba equipment. Fishers use small boats to travel to the fishing grounds, where they swim the shoreline in search of the unique New Zealand Haliotis iris species.
In some areas it is not even necessary to use a boat to get to the fishing grounds, as they can be caught directly from the beach.
Many fishers have been pāua diving all their lives and are now passing on the craft of pāua diving to their children.
Once the fish is landed, it is treated with the utmost care and respect. Our wild New Zealand live pāua is then conditioned in specially designed temperature-controlled tanks before being hand selected and packed, ready for its journey to local and international markets.
A fresh New Zealand wild pāua can be caught, landed and delivered to your table within 48 hours. This means it retains all of its natural flavour, texture and health-giving properties. New Zealand wild pāua is unique in looks, flavour and quality.
Our pāua is pure black in colour, making it stand out from all other wild species in the world. It also has the most beautiful shell of dazzling blue and green and is prized as a decorative material for furniture and jewellery.
The black colour is melanin. Melanin’s primary function is to protect the skin from sun damage. It is used in many health-related products today, while the average person remains unaware of this.
The flavour of wild New Zealand pāua is also unique. Water from the clean, cold Southern Ocean ensures a richness and intensity of flavour found nowhere else.
