Pomegranate Kitchen Values
Diversity & True Representation
As new immigrants arrive in New Zealand and make it home, they bring with them new dreams and perspectives, along with life histories, traditions and recipes - all of which add to the vibrant depth and diversity of Aotearoa. People from refugee backgrounds are involved at all levels of Pomegranate Kitchen, including cooking, admin & design, and on our Board of Trustees.
Authentic, Quality Food
We believe that food is the great connector, across language and cultures. The heart of Pomegranate is the kitchen - there our team and chefs create the food of home. Our dishes are a wonderful blend - some using recipes passed down for generations while others put a new spin on kiwi classics.
Generosity
At Pomegranate Kitchen, generosity comes in many forms. Generosity and respect is an important food tradition for our cooks, sharing their cultures with you, our customers. They have identified that teaching and learning from each other is one of the things that they love about working for Pomegranate Kitchen.
Our Story
At the heart of culture you find food, and ours is getting richer by the day. As new immigrants arrive in New Zealand and make it home, they bring with them new dreams and perspectives, along with life histories, traditions and recipes — all of which add to the vibrant depth and diversity of Aotearoa.
The heart of Pomegranate is the kitchen - here our team and chefs create the food of home. Our catering, dishes and products are a wonderful blend. Some using recipes passed down for generations while others put a new spin on kiwi classics.
All have a story to tell, all are home made and all are made with love, to share.
Pomegranate Kitchen is social enterprise and the dream child of Rebecca Stewart, formerly of the Red Cross and food enthusiast Ange Wither. They realised some of the best ways to help former refugees integrate into their new homes and communities is through employment, a safe place to learn, and a way to determine their future. Pomegranate Kitchen provides all three. Our team come from all over the world and are represented in every level of our business, from board members to kitchen hands. Here they work with the familiar while discovering the new, sharing their stories, skills and experience through the catering and products they create.
We also think working with our natural environment and being generous
to the planet is important, from biodegradable packaging to ethically-sourced
uniforms to deliveries by bike.
We are a social enterprise - a registered charity which
operates like a business. Any profit made
is returned to Pomegranate Kitchen.
Our Cooks
We pride ourselves on creating amazing food crafted by newcomers to our country. Over time we have worked with cooks from Iran, Syrian, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iraq, and Sri Lanka.
Genet - Cook
A former business owner, Genet is originally from Ethiopia but has spent some time working in Egypt. She has two children who are studying at university.
Majed - Cook
Majed is originally from Syria, and recently met the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as part of Pomegranate Kitchen!
Muna - Cook
Muna is originally from Syria. In 2016 she was asked to help design a menu and share her cooking skills with Logan Brown restaurant.
Meet the Rest of the Team
Rebecca Stewart - General Manager,
Co-founder
Rebecca is a Wellingtonian who loves to eat! She has a background in not-for-profits (particularly programme evaluation) in New Zealand, Australia, India, and Fiji. Most recently she worked for NZ Red Cross.
Ange Wither - Co-founder, Board Member
Ange is an incredible cook and food obsessive with a background in organisational learning and development.
Her favourite thing to make just now is sourdough and seville orange marmalade.
Alex Hannant - Chair of the Board
Alex leads a number of projects supporting innovation and enterprise for social impact.
Originally from the UK, Alex’s favourite dish to cook at the moment is spaghetti carbonara.
Tan Huynh - Board Member
Tan is from a refugee background, and brings expertise in marketing, business development, building sector capability, and capital raising.
He is Vietnam’s tallest man (probably) and fluent in Vietnamese. Tan believes that magic happens when people connect over a meal. His favourite dish is pho and pavlova for dessert.
Kelda Hains - Advisor
Kelda is the chef and co-owner of Rita in Aro Valley. Formerly co-owner of Nikau Cafe and author of a cookbook by the same name, Kelda has been active in the Wellington hospitality industry for over 20 years.
Her favourite dish is tomato salad with tomatoes from her garden in autumn.