Kate Hughes, founder of HNT Kitchen, sits down with Verve to talk about building menus and business.
What drove you to found HNT Kitchen?
HNT Kitchen is not just about serving food. I started it because I could see a real need for healthy fast food and there was nothing out there. Eventually my best friend Mia and I got so frustrated with the lack of good quality healthy options we decided to open HNT Foods Ltd. We also noticed that tradies particularly were suffering severe health consequences in their 40s and 50s and many confided in me that they ate poorly as they were too busy to prep, so were at the mercy of a service station or lunch bar wherever they were sent for the day. I’m passionate about helping to tackle the very serious increases in health issues that are the result of lifestyle-related diseases and obesity. I believe that you’re on this earth to make the world a better place by sharing the gifts that you have. For me, that’s connecting with and nurturing people, and cooking nourishing food. And so, Hammer & Tongs Food Stop was born.
Now my mission is to help make healthy, delicious food accessible, affordable, and available to all so there’s no excuse not to eat well when you’re on the run. We all know how hard it is to cook nourishing meals three times daily, so this is where I want to help.
HNT has been through a few variations, had ups and downs, but I feel like we’re just coming into our own now that the pandemic has passed, and people are returning to the city. The fact that we’re six years old and have survived a pandemic is a true testament to the need.
My mission is to help make healthy, delicious food accessible, affordable, and available.
Why did you make the decision to move your business to Commercial Bay, and what has it meant for your company?
At the point of deciding to open a store in Commercial Bay, we were in expansion mode. We had one great store in Silverdale and were getting requests from far and wide to open another branch here, there, and everywhere. We thought the CBD would be a fantastic spot to reach a large number of busy people who need healthy food fast. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit, and things went a little haywire!
How do you differentiate HNT Kitchen from other restaurants in Commercial Bay?
We are the place to get a hearty, nutritious and tasty meal to go. We are fast food that cares about your health and you. Many of the other offerings are delicious but not the type of food you want to be eating every day. We are also completely gluten free, and this makes us attractive to those suffering from other dietary intolerances and preferences. We’ve become known as the dietary specialists and can look after almost everyone, from keto to dairy free, vegan to gluten free. It’s just real food. We cook everything from scratch, so we know what is in our food and can advise accordingly. We also only ever choose ethically sourced animal products.
We want to change the shape of the fast food industry, and the bellies of those that are in it.
What is your approach to creating your menu?
This is actually a funny story. When Mia and I founded HNT, we had limited hospo experience. We didn’t even have a dishwasher and thought we could wash our dishes at the end of the day until we could afford one – we were very wrong! As well as not having a dishwasher, we didn’t really have many recipes, just a passion for good flavours and looking after people. Luckily, we are both great at making things up as we go, and this also allowed us to be incredibly low waste, and creative – we changed the whole menu every single day! We threw things together every morning, making things up and combining flavours until we were happy. After a few months, things began to settle, and we started jotting down some recipes on scrappy bits of paper. Over the first Christmas holiday, in 2017, we sat in a caravan at the beach for two weeks and wrote up all our recipes and there were over 300! These days we choose the favourites and rotate them seasonally.
Can you share any exciting upcoming plans or initiatives?
Nothing at this stage. I’ve just had a baby and we’re knuckling down to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
What’s your long-term vision for HNT Kitchen?
I want HNT kitchen to be the first choice for hungry, busy people who like variety, excellent flavours, and care about what they eat and how they feed their loved ones. We want to change the shape of the fast food industry, and the bellies of those that are in it.
Check out more healthy and yummy meals from HNT Kitchen at hntkitchen.co.nz
Find them at Level 2/21 Commercial Bay Queen Street, Auckland CBD.
