Into the wild

Almost 23 years ago an Auckland based woman decided she’s had enough of her job and bought a company called Wild Country.

Not long after, she realised a company with that name couldn’t be based in Auckland – so into the wild she went. Or rather, to Burbush just north of Hamilton.

Angelique van Camp and Stephen Wilkinson have been based in the Waikato since 2000.

And through many trials and tribulations they have been producing delicious condiments, that are stocked in more than 200 retail stores throughout New Zealand, for the better part of 22 years. And now they also stock fast-food chain Wendy’s with delightful sauces.

Angelique, before jumping head first into the proudly Waikato-based business, said she had been working as a client service manager, mainly with food and beverage.

“I kind of stumbled into it. I’d had enough of doing the client service thing and I felt it was time to move on and I was about to go into the wine industry because I was really passionate about all the smaller producers that were starting to emerge.”

Then, the opportunity to buy Wild Country popped up.

“In those days, it was all olive oils and vinegars in decorative bottles. It was started by another woman before, she was going around collecting recycled glass bottles out of various outfits in Auckland, like old Galliano bottles, it was very trendy at the time.

“She had got a market out there, but she was really struggling to get it all to work for her and she wasn’t in the right head space for it.”

That’s when a friend of Angelique’s saw it on the market and thought she’d be perfect for it.

“I thought I could give it a go. It was an unmitigated disaster to start with, but I was very lucky because I had help from a friend who got me into Red Seal, who make tea bags and so forth, and they helped me get it all up and running.”

Only a year into the then-Auckland based business, the market completely changed.

“Everyone wanted to clear their benches of all that clutter and decorative oils. Then, retailers started asking us for condiments.” 

Angelique dove straight into condiment making. She had to started with contractors because she had no kitchen facilities.

In 1999, by this time Stephen had married not only her, but into the business as well, and the pair decided it was time for more change. They wanted to go wild.

“We felt that Wild Country, needed to be wild country based, with a wild address. We found this property, which is absolutely stunning. The warehouse was built, we just had to build the kitchen.”

The 11-acre farm they are still based in is located just north of Hamilton in Burbush.

“We got the council involved and they helped us get everything to the right standard. We sourced most our gear for the kitchen second-hand from local auctions.”

Stephen said when they moved to the Waikato they grew really fast.

“We moved from contractors to employees and over the years we’ve employed a lot of locals. Our business is still quite seasonal, it’s very centered around summer, that’s when the retailers want our stuff.

“I am from the Waikato, so it was more of a home coming for me. I grew up on a dairy farm in Taupiri,” he said.

The couple and their new employees moved in to the new kitchen in 2000. It was up and running within six months.

Angelique said it was interesting to hear the public perception of Wild Country change because of the move.

“We went to an industry gift fair at the beginning of the year and told everybody we were leaving and the attitude from the rest of all those retailers changed straight away. ‘Fantastic’, they said. We weren’t deemed Aucklanders anymore, we were from the Waikato.

“That change of address was huge, all of a sudden everyone thought we were great, it was a good move.”

She said, from there, they decided they would embrace their new-found home to the point where everything they could source locally; they did and still do.

And then the recession hit and they suffered through it for about five years, holding on to hope that they would pull through. They did.

Since the beginning, Angelique said, there had always been a challenge to face, whether it was one of the ever-changing food laws around food safety or a change in the market.

“There’s always a challenge. You think you’ve got your finger on the pulse and then the next thing arrives.”

One of the latest challenges they’ve faced, picked up and made thrive was set for them by major fast-food chain, Wendy’s.  

They started off providing a sauce to go with Wendy’s bacon promo burger last year.

“They approached us again with regard to their tequila crunch burger and that had our tequila lime salsa on it, which actually does contain tequila from Mexico. It’s not tequila flavour. That was successful for them.

“Then, they said to us they were going to do a smoky mushroom burger and they wanted a smoky mushroom aioli, but they were having trouble getting the right amount of smoke and we problem solved that for them.

“It’s been a real enjoyable partnership with them and we would love to do more of that kind of work with them. We can design a product purely for them.”

Stephen said Wendy’s was family owned, like them, so they have a philosophy of using family owned companies.  

“I think that’s where we’ve picked up what bigger companies can’t. Another example is Al Brown in Auckland, we were able to design exactly what he wanted.

“Taste is first. We keep our products as clean as possible. It’s using methodology to fix issues, rather than using additives.

“We do Al Brown’s signature Habanero Mustard. It’s been made out of this little old tin shed for the last three years, keeping the Aucklanders happy with their mustard," he said.

“Our products are still handmade. That’s how we are and we don’t want to get so big we can’t continue to be handmade. We even apply our labels by hand,” said Angelique.

“Doing business in the Waikato is easy for us,” Stephen said.

“We distribute nationwide and it’s easy from here. From here, getting stuff to Auckland, to the Bay of Plenty, it’s easy.

“And we wanted to live here and live in the country, raise our kids with a Waikato birth certificate,” he said.

“A lot of Aucklanders would think Auckland is the nucleus of the North island, but I actually think it’s here,” Angelique said. 

“We are very, very, blessed to have where we live because it’s a gate way to so many different things.”

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