Let's stop doing 'business as usual' and instead use business as a tool for good.
Tesh Randall is an enthusiastic entrepreneur - starting out in her home kitchen in 2014, Raglan Food Co now supplies over 750 stores around New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, United Arab Emirates and the Pacific Islands.
She believes that business can be used as a tool for creating positive change and is a woman of many hats (literally & figuratively!), with side projects including writing books, philanthropy, running the Raglan Rural Retreat glamping accommodation and being a celebrant. Tesh is an Edmund Hillary Fellow, Coralus activator, and founding trustee of The Values Trust. She lives in the beautiful seaside town of Whaingaroa Raglan and loves being an active part of the community.
Co-founder of Raglan Food Co
'Lifting the vibe' of plant-based products since 2014. Winner of the Gourmet Food Award, Social & Environmental Sustainability Award, and Outstanding Sustainability Champion Award, their range of plant-based products including coconut yoghurt, condiments & kefir are stocked in supermarkets around the country. Proud to be a Certified B Corporation, they support a number of social & environmental initiatives, including the 1 Million Pieces project, encouraging customers to clean-up beaches around New Zealand. Raglan Food Co is the market leader with 52% of the dairy-free yoghurt category, and they still make everything from their custom-built 1,500sqm factory in Raglan, employing 30 locals. In 2021 they brought on a major investment partner, Pioneer Capital, to allow further expansion into overseas markets.
In 2020, Latesha was recognised in the Forbes 30 under 30 Food Entrepreneurs Working Towards A Cleaner And Healthier Future, she was a Women of Influence finalist in 2021, and in 2022 Raglan Food Co won the MPI Supreme Employer Award.
Author, Writer, and Editor
A five-year blog project led to a publishing deal with a US publishing company for Tesh's book, The To-Be List, which has recently been ranged in Whitcoulls stores nationwide in NZ. She has also had several children's books published.
Tesh was the Editor for NZ's largest travel magazine, Arrival, for 8 years until COVID hit. She has also contributed freelance pieces to various newspapers and magazines over the years including Idealog, Good, Green Ideas, Hamilton News, and Travel Digest.
Edmund Hillary Fellow
Tesh was accepted into Cohort 4 of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship, and is proud to be representing New Zealand in this international collective of entrepreneurs and change-makers.
MBTI coach
A natural curiosity for how the mind works led Tesh to become certified as a Myers-Briggs practitioner. She has made her knowledge of personality types part of the work & leadership culture at Raglan Food Co and enjoys sharing these insights with others who are leading teams.
Previous experience
Tesh had a unique upbringing with never attending school, and finishing her homeschooling studies (7th form equivalent) at age 16, then beginning work full-time without attending University. Her varied career experiences include working in event management, insurance, accounting, radio, digital, and start-ups. Before starting Raglan Food Co, Tesh ran a digital agency working with ethical & sustainably-focused brands. She has studied in her spare time to achieve certificates in Editing & Proofreading, Business Management, and Children's Book Writing, and she's also a certified Celebrant.
Video
The Raglan Coconut Yoghurt Story
Seb and Tesh (Mr & Mrs Coconut) discuss the origins of how Raglan Coconut Yoghurt started, how the business has grown, and why they're nuts about their product.It was an entertaining story about starting a small business that has become successful. ... keep reading New Zealand Bookkeepers Association Incorporated
It was a no-brainer to invite Tesh to speak at our inaugural Women of Waikato event in May 2018 so that she could share her inspirational journey in business with our audience of almost 100 people. The feedback I had from the audience was that they loved Tesh’s infectious enthusiasm and her entrepreneurial spirit!
You totally made their day with the yoghurt! (they are from decile 1-3 schools and would not see this type of item in their weekly shop so it was a real novelty for them and a complete delight to have you there inspiring them!). I could tell from their questions, energy and enthusiasm after a full day and hearing you after dinner, they were ecstatic and motivated. Thank you soooooo much! We loved having you at our National Youth Advisory Group camp.
Thank you for sharing your story with us! We were a room full of rural, working women totally inspired by your passion and commitment to your truth of doing what’s right for people and the planet. You glossed over the incredible success you have had with writing and business ventures, which shows your modest, humble style. You were so down-to-earth (pun intended!), engaging and entertaining and I will be forever grateful that you accepted our invitation to speak.
I first met Latesha through the Edmund Hillary Fellowship where she presented to one of our schools in the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) programme, I was blown away by how talented this lady was and her inspirational approach to business. I just knew I had to get her to speak to our whole student body to share her empowering words, her entrepreneurial journey and most of all, to inspire. And inspire she did! Latesha is a true entrepreneur, her sustainable approach to business and her philosophy of doing better for people and our planet is truly admirable. It was an absolute honour to have Mrs Coconut speak at our Waikato/King Country YES regional finals.
Thank you for speaking at our Inspired Exporting event, you had a very refreshing, honest and engaging story to hear! We’ve had great feedback from our varied audience and everyone was quite inspired by how you’ve created a business based on passion and purpose. Thank you again!
Thank you so much for an awesome session yesterday. The group were really excited to see the role of a business influencing change in such a powerful way. We loved the sense of mutual exchange (compared to “help me”) and the wide ripple effects that you were creating with your “intelligent, simple, home-grown approach” (to quote one learner!). I know it is not simple, but the clarity of your vision, values and practical skills is such a great foundation. You have certainly inspired some more exploration from the group into social enterprise and the whole question of value, and values-based practice.
