Starting in the kitchen
Blue Frog Breakfast was founded in 2019 by passionate foodie Scotty Baragwanath. Over nine years, he'd gone from making cereals in his kitchen to having his premium breakfast products stocked in hundreds of stores in New Zealand and Australia.
“The investment from Kiwibank enabled us to buy a much larger automatic filler (machine) so we could go from around 2,000 bags per shift to 15,000. That was instrumental in us growing. It was an absolute game-changer,” says Baragwanath.
Growing sustainably at scale
Blue Frog now offers 16 products in over 350 stores in New Zealand and almost 1,400 in Australia. As demand increases globally for healthy, sustainably produced food, Blue Frog stands out by embedding sustainability into its operations.
Our sustainable finance team recognised early that Baragwanath had a clear vision for creating a premium product with sustainability at its core. Large purchasers and retailers increasingly expect transparency around ethical sourcing and environmental impact — something Blue Frog delivers.
Blue Frog and Kiwibank are both B Corp certified. Blue Frog was the first breakfast food company to be B Corp certified in the Asia Pacific region. It's also certified as carbon positive by Ekos, which means it measures and offsets 120% of its carbon footprint.
Banking partnership that fuels growth
Expertise shared by Kiwibank commercial manager Mike Mangino, who has built a strong one-on-one relationship with Baragwanath, has been vital.
"Mike will come and have a coffee and catch up on what’s happening, and a lot of the conversation is him sharing perspectives on other businesses he's working with,” says Baragwanath.
We've always said that, if we're going to be making a product to scale, we're going to look at the impact that has and make sure we're being a force for good."Scotty Baragwanath, Blue Frog founder
We're proud to have been involved throughout Blue Frog's journey, with Mangino offering support beyond everyday banking. His guidance has helped the business make pragmatic decisions as it expanded — including accessing capital that enabled Blue Frog to significantly increase production.
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