Nature’s Prime was named the Otago regional winner for this year’s Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) awards, announced by Business South at the University of Otago’s Business School on Thursday.
A total of 338 students from 14 schools throughout Otago were involved in the programme this year, with eight teams competing in the regional finals.
The “100% natural” leather restoring balm was developed by St Hilda’s Collegiate students Ellie Templeton, Emi Martin, Greer Egan, and Meg Miller.
They were “ecstatic” to come out on top, they said.
“Hearing about all the other teams’ creative ideas was a highlight, as it showed all the hard work that has been put into this year.
“As a group, we were just really excited to be there and really enjoyed the experience.”
YES is an experiential programme for year 12 and 13 students to set up and run a real business, with each company creating their own product or service to bring to market.
Nature’s Prime was now invited to pitch at the YES national finals, to be held in Wellington in December, where they would be in the running to win “Company of the Year”.
Their balm was made from beeswax, lanolin, avocado oil and sunflower oil and was manufactured locally.
Able to protect new and restore old leather goods — such as bags, shoes, furniture, horse gear and belts — the balm nourishes leather “giving a long-lasting shine and water-resistant properties”.
With three of them hailing from farming backgrounds, the group said the primary industries were “very important to us”.
“With leather being a big part of our lives, from bags to equestrian gear, we wanted to create a new way to use products from the rural sector.
“We combined this idea with our frustration about quality leather goods being discarded and thought that we could make a difference.”
Nature’s Prime was also given a National Excellence award, along with fellow St Hilda’s business “DonateMate”.
