Elysian Foods Turns 25yrs
Press Release
A dip into 25 years of Taramasalata in NZ
Toby Green and Elysian Foods are a classic case of the famous tagline that made Victor Kiam and Remington shavers famous in 1979 – “I liked it so much, I bought the company”.
In 2017, Toby traded in his corporate career to buy Elysian Foods, the only company in New Zealand that makes his favourite dip Taramasalata.
It was established by Greek couple Basil and Martha Yiannoutsous in 2000, working out of their well- known deli in Miramar on the south coast of Wellington. With high demand for Basil’s taramasalata, they’d begun making it in larger batches building up to distributing it to supermarkets and delis around the country.
However, in 2017 with Basil and Martha now in their 70s, they’d decided to sell the business. If they couldn’t do that, they’d close it. “I was faced with the possibility of taramasalata not being available on supermarket shelves, and that really worried me,” says Toby. “So, I decided to buy the business.”
Toby and his partner Sarah, focused much of their time initially on meeting customers and stockists, conducting in-store tastings as a basis for building the business. “After all, most people love our products after they’ve had the opportunity to try them,” says Toby.
Over the years, they have launched new products including Elaiasalata (a light olive dip) and Truffle Taramasalata, inspired by customer feedback looking for vegan friendly products, and Toby’s travels abroad.
Elaiasalata (a unique light olive dip, developed in-house) was a finalist in the Artisan Awards in 2020, and Toby is hopeful of another positive result in 2025 for their latest dip, Chilli Elaiasalata, already proving very popular at food shows around the country.
Toby has also put extensive effort into making the company as environmentally friendly as possible.
In 2022 he embarked on a six-month quest to find an alternative to the dip’s plastic packaging. The project was recorded by Consumer NZ in a two-part podcast. One option they researched was a possible switch to bamboo packaging. A broader lifecycle assessment revealed that this would simply shift the environmental burden from one part of the supply chain to another.
“Nothing would have given me greater pleasure than to switch to a bamboo packaging. We could get rid of the plastic and we'd be the first dip company in the world to go to a bamboo package. “But that would have led thousands of consumers of our products and the industry in general, to think that's a better solution, when in fact it turned out to be less than ideal on many fronts.”
Eventually the team at Elysian settled on a new style of plastic pot and lid, one that uses 20% less plastic and where the lid is fully recyclable. So, progress although not the perfect solution (if one indeed exists for packaging chilled dips).
Toby has also introduced other sustainability measures over the years, including a reuse scheme for plastic containers, cardboard boxes and olive oil tins as well as buying rapeseed oil locally, in bulk to reduce packaging and transport related emissions.
Now, as Elysian Foods celebrates its 25th birthday, the company continues to see steady year-on- year growth, helping to fulfil Toby’s original objective of taking Taramasalata to the people of New Zealand. “We’ll be celebrating our birthday with a few promotions, and a small event later in the year to say thanks to our stockists for supporting us over the years. It should be lots of fun” says Toby.
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Read an article printed in The Post here.