Koha Kai

03/08/2025

It was such an honour to have hosted these Whānau dinners in our Huia Centre. Got to know these guys really well, and the memories we have of not just being gifted a court side table at one of the home games (thanks so much to World Solar who sponsored the table for us that night). That evening was made especially wonderful when our guys were then invited back to have dinner with the team. Sat with and talked to Coach Yim, ate with NZs Most Valuable Player. Conversed with coaches, man hugged with all the players. A very special memory and time for all of us.

02/08/2025

🥗 Busy life? Recovering from injury? Just over cooking this week?
Tīmata Meals are here to help! 🙌

Whether you’re juggling work, wrangling kids, looking after whānau, or just need an easy win — our wholesome, ready-made meals are made with aroha and delivered straight to your door!

🍽️ Here at Koha Kai, we’re proud to be the lead supplier of Tīmata Meals — and we’ve never been busier! 💛

Timata's ready-made meals are real food, plenty of flavour and delivered straight to your door.
✅ No prep
✅ No stress
✅ Just heat, eat, and enjoy

We’re here to take one thing off your plate — by putting something nourishing on it. 📦 Order yours today!

01/08/2025

In keeping with our Thursday Thoughts, and the challenges facing Koha Kai, we are very excited about new opportunities as we head into August. A teeny tiny hint at what is ahead. You can't see it, but lets see how good I am at describing perfection. For today, its crispy and its sweet. Its light and its buttery. The taste of almonds and of honey. A single bite leaves you with a conversation starter powdery dot on the tip of your nose, and a 'don't give a damn' on the tip of your tongue.
We have a new artisan in the house, and through collaboration and partnership we will be growing our reach into the community. Welcome to Wild Yeast (Lenn) who has accepted our invitation to share our kitchen to grow and develop his amazing products. Best known through the Sunday Markets - he'll still be there, but he will be growing his options and opportunities. We look forward very soon to be supporting him to retail his products through our Cafe.
Without question, we will be featuring Wild Yeast Breads in our platters as well.

~ Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, takuhe ai te iwi.

"With your food basket, and my food basket, the people will benefit."

01/08/2025

🎄Christmas Catering & Function Room 🎄
– Book It Before Barbara From Accounts Does

PSA: ✨ It’s nearly that time of year again — when Mariah defrosts, the budget mysteriously disappears, and someone suggests a secret Santa with a $5 limit.

Whether you're hosting the party of the year or just need to feed a crew without the stress sweat… Koha Kai has you covered:

✨ Off-site catering
We bring the kai, you bring the people.
Perfect for:
✔️ Work shouts
✔️ School wind-downs
✔️ Community dos
✔️ Whānau who don’t want to cook (we feel you)

We’re talking generous platters, sweet treats, fresh flavours — and no-one crying over the oven...... or.....

🏢 On-site catered functions
No space at work? Sick of hosting at home? Book our fully-serviced function space instead.

✔️ We set the tables
✔️ We serve the kai
✔️ You just show up and bask in the compliments
✔️ No dishes. Seriously.

Ideal for staff lunches, team wrap-ups, awards nights — or that annual event no one wants to plan. Let us do the hard bit!

🎅 Pro tip: Book early. We book out fast.
Faster than Karen can say “just a small slice” and go back for thirds.
📩 Enquire here: www.kohakai.co.nz
📍 Based in Invercargill, feeding all of Southland with love (and a side of stuffing)

31/07/2025

🚛 Buckle up—Southland Hug a Rig Day is back! Saturday, 9 August 2025, 12 PM–3 PM @ Southern Field Days, Waimumu! 🚗

This heartwarming tradition (going strong for over 15 years!) gives people of all ages with special needs or lifelong medical conditions the chance to ride in a big rig, classic car, or hot rod. No matter your pace, you’re in for a joyride of epic proportions!

🎉 Last year:
• Over 170 riders (up from about 150 the year before!)
• 30+ trucks and 40+ drivers volunteered their wheels—and their smiles
• Each ride lasts roughly 20–25 minutes, pure bliss on wheels
• New ramps made wheelchair access extra smooth

💥 Want to help spread the joy? Volunteers with trucks, cars—or just a big heart—are welcome. It’s all self-funded through sponsors, raffles, and lots of goodwill. Car enthusiasts, truck lovers, and humanitarians unite!

Let’s roll out a day full of smiles, speed, and spectacular rig hugs! 🎁

31/07/2025

👟 Thursday Thoughts – When It Doesn’t Fit Anymore 👟
You’re allowed to outgrow stuff — even if it used to be right for you.

Shoes, jobs, routines, relationships…
They all have their time. But eventually, they start to pinch, slow you down, make you grumpy — and suddenly you’re trying to convince yourself “na it’s still fine” while your toes are going numb.

Let’s be honest: you wouldn’t keep cramming into shoes that don’t fit.
So why do we do it in other parts of life?

Sometimes you can just upsize.
Other times you need to scrap the whole thing and try something new.
Bit of a pivot. Bit of a stretch. Bit scary, sure — but sometimes that’s exactly what you need.

We know all about that at Koha Kai.

We’ve had to shift gears more times than I can count —
because the needs of the people changed.
The funding shifted.
The government moved the goalposts (again).
And the business? Well… it still needs to run, even on fumes.

But we didn’t pack it in.
We tweaked it, grew with it, figured stuff out on the fly (as usual), and kept showing up.
Sometimes we kept the same flavour, just in a bigger container.
Other times, we had to totally switch it up and hope it worked.
That’s growth. It’s not always tidy, but it’s honest.

So if something in your life’s feeling a bit too tight lately —
a role, a routine, a way of thinking — that’s your sign.

You’re not failing.
You’re just not that version of yourself anymore.

Make the shift. Try something new.
Chuck on some fresh socks.
And go find the next fit that actually feels like you.

We’re all just figuring it out as we go anyway.

30/07/2025

Tsunami alert went off at 6:30am and honestly, so did my attitude. The disrespect 🌊😴

30/07/2025

🚨 CALLING ALL:
🎶 Avid Jingo veterans
🧓 Aunties who bring their own dabber
🧔‍♂️ Grandads who haven’t missed a pub quiz since 1994
💅 Parents desperate for a night off that’s technically “for the kids”
👩‍🏫 Teachers, teacher aides & school staff who’ve seen one too many near misses on the current playground..and...👟 Weekend playground regulars from every corner of Invercargill

We’re putting the call out on behalf of one of our awesome kura — Invercargill Middle School — who need a hand raising funds for a much-needed playground upgrade.

This playground has been through it all. It’s squeaked, creaked, and clattered its way through years of use — by students, siblings, and weekend wanderers from all over Invercargill. It’s served them well, but she’s tired. Real tired.

🛝 Why the upgrade matters:
✔️ The current playground is worn out — time to create a safer, stronger space that meets the needs of growing tamariki
✔️ It’s a central spot used by families right across our city.
✔️ Tamariki deserve a space that sparks imagination, movement, and connection.
✔️ Because scraped knees and belly laughs are essential parts of growing up.

So! If you’ve got a spare night and a love for local schools doing awesome things — grab your mates and get down to Jingo Night at Waikiwi Tavern on Wednesday 6 August.

Every bum on a seat gets them closer to a new playground — and every dabbed card gets you closer to glory (and maybe a prize).

Let’s show up, show out, and help build something special for the next generation. 💛

24/07/2025

🛍️ Thursday Thoughts – Why Local Matters 🛍️
You know what’s better than a five-star review?
A local giving you a nod in the supermarket and saying,
“Oi, those fresh meals were so good my dad’s now asking if we do subscriptions. The man doesn’t even know how to order online.”

That’s local business. That’s us.

When you support local, you’re not just buying a product —
you’re backing people who show up for their community,
even when their own plates are overflowing.

The ones balancing work, life, tamariki, and community —
running on low sleep and high purpose,
still showing up and doing the mahi because someone’s gotta.

Local business looks like:
- Pulling 70-hour weeks and still baking for the school fundraiser
- Replying to DMs during halftime at kids’ sport
- Handwriting so many labels your hand cramps before lunch
- Showing up to the markets with zero sleep and ten layers on

It’s not polished. It’s not perfect.
But it’s real — built with hustle, heart, and a whole lot of community backing.

At Koha Kai, we hand-stick every label.
We’re the supplier who doesn’t forget the little schools tucked away past the paddocks.
We show up early, stay late, and get it done — rain, mud, or frost on the windscreen.

So when you back a local like us, it’s not just a sale —
it’s helping someone get to their kid’s game, fill up the work van, keep the lights on,
or send a kai box out to a whānau doing it tough.

Back the ones who back you.
The ones who show up, sponsor raffles, feed the teams, and fuel the mahi behind the scenes. Because supporting local means more kai, more connection, and less of your dollars vanishing into the corporate void.

23/07/2025

⚡ You Don’t Need a Bigger Team. You Need a Better Room. ⚡

Great ideas don’t happen by accident.
They need clarity, energy, and space to breathe.
That’s exactly what this room was built for.

Welcome to your next offsite, team reset, creative sprint, or planning day — minus the office clutter and Zoom fatigue.

✅ Designed for small to mid-sized groups
✅ Room to move, breakout, whiteboard, brainstorm, regroup
✅ Catering that powers productivity (and actually tastes good)
✅ Every layout option covered – cabaret, theatre, boardroom, or wide open
✅ Easy location. Easy to cater. Easy to look like the boss who nailed it.

This is not your stock-standard meeting room.
It’s the kind of space where ideas catch fire, strategy lands, and people say,
“That was the best team day we’ve had in years.”

So whether you're:
🧠 Launching a new vision
🛠 Rebuilding culture
💬 Deep diving into strategy
🌿 Holding space for something meaningful

—this is the room that holds space for all of it.

📆 Ready when you are.
📍 DM us to come check it out or lock in your next game-changing day.

21/07/2025

Well done everybody from the Koha Kai page who supported our Josiah Allick. Thats three MVP awards for the season....
The Sharks MVP - decided by stats
the League MVP - again - decided by stats
Fans Vote MVP - decided by online votes (scrutineered for fairness)

We have been very lucky to have this young man as part of our Southland Sharks Whānau this year. We know he has a focus to keep growing within the US and International leagues. Delighted that he has been so roundly welcomed by Southlanders generally, and thankful for his interactions with and support of Koha Kai and the Whānau of our kaupapa.
Well done Jo, and all the best for the future.

And the 2025 Sal's NBL Fan MVP is... JOSIAH ALLICK! 🏀🔥 Your votes made it happen! Congratulations, Josiah, on an incredible season and earning the love of the fans!

📸 Monica Toretto

17/07/2025

🏀 Thursday Thoughts 🏀

Funny how food just does the thing, eh?

It brings people together — not just around tables, but through stories, shared chaos, and that one who always leaves with the best leftovers like they brought the tray. (They didn’t. We see you, Sam.)

We’ve honestly seen stronger connections built over a tray of lasagne than in most boardrooms.
No PowerPoints. No networking. Just good kai, good people, and someone yelling “who wants seconds?”

A little while back, when my son moved home from Australia after chasing his basketball dreams, I asked him what he wanted to do for weekend dinners. Weeknights were always hectic — meetings, trainings, fundraising — but weekends were a blank slate. And do you know what he wanted?

Family dinners at Nanny’s.
All the cousins. Aunties. Great-grandmothers.
A chance to shoot hoops with the littlies before someone called them all in for kai,
board games before dinner and to know there’d always be dessert.
He didn’t ask for flash meals — he asked for connection. For whānau. For that feeling of being wrapped up in love, noise, and full bellies. He wanted to come home.

And that right there? That’s what food is really about. It brings people home, even if they’ve been away chasing big dreams.

Not just full bellies — full hearts.
It’s how we look after each other.
It’s where memories live.
It’s how we say, “you matter to me,” without saying a word.

So here’s to the ones making extra “just in case.”
To the Nannies keeping the dessert flowing.
To the whānau who show up, scoop the mash, dodge the dishes, and make the magic happen.
You’re the real MVPs 💛

You’re not just making dinner — you’re making connection.
And that’s the good stuff.



📸Photo Cred: one of the siblings 🤣 Titled: Nanny with all her babies feat OG Nana