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Taha & Hossein Amin
Iranians Taha and Hossein emigrated to New Zealand with their two daughters in 2012, in search of freedom and opportunity. They had just $20 left when Hossein finally got a job with Fonterra, and they’ve lived in Hamilton, Hawera and Te Awamutu while he’s moved up the ranks there. They now live in Tauranga, where Taha, an expert baker, makes delicious bread from around the globe for their businesss Zand Kitchen.
Iranians Taha and Hossein emigrated to New Zealand with their two daughters in 2012, in search of freedom and opportunity. They had just $20 left when Hossein finally got a job with Fonterra, and they’ve lived in Hamilton, Hawera and Te Awamutu while he’s moved up the ranks there. They now live in Tauranga, where Taha, an expert baker, makes delicious bread from around the globe for their businesss Zand Kitchen.
Why did you choose to live in New Zealand?
Hossein We were looking for a better life for ourselves and our daughters — at that time they
were 9 and 13 years old. We wanted to build a new life and New Zealand is a multicultural country that all people can live freely and don’t get judged based on their culture, religion or situation
We [also] chose New Zealand because of the nature. And my background was in dairy and I knew Fonterra was a huge global company so there would be more opportunity for us.
We didn’t know anyone here at all — there were not many Iranians in New Zealand.
Were there challenges in your move?
Hossein The language was one of the big challenges but I really appreciate how New Zealanders were very patient. As soon as they see it’s our second language or we are struggling to understand, they were very happy to slow down and repeat. People were very supportive.
But finding a job was a big challenge — when we moved here, I had 16 years experience but I was
not getting senior roles. They didn’t recognise Iran experience. It took seven months to start in a
very junior role at Fonterra in Hāwera, which for me was a huge step back; mentally it was very challenging. I started as a lab technician but after seven months, I got a role one step more senior
in Hamilton. Now I’m a team manager, so I feel I got on the right track.
Taha When we came here, we moved a lot. Hossein was looking for a job so we have to move schools and pay for a lot of school uniforms. When we went to Hāwera, we had only $20! But we sold one of the uniforms and the money came to us from the school — it was $150. We were very happy!
Hossein For seven months we’d been using our savings. When I got that job, we packed our things
on a trailer and when we arrived in Hāwera, we had to wait for a week to get my first payment. We
will always remember that — it was crazy.
And from there, we start building our life again. In Iran, we were in a good position — we had our
own house — so we came here and went to almost zero on every point.
Taha But we were happy.
How would it have been for your daughters to grow up in Iran?
Taha We didn’t like our girls to grow up over there.
Hossein There were so many government rules, especially for girls and women. For my daughters, finding work in Iran [would be] very hard. Or the work environment could be restrictive. [For example] our older daughter now is a civil engineer and is working at a construction company. In Iran, working as a civil engineer would be dominated by men, and legally no one is telling you that you shouldn’t work but culturally…
Taha The culture forces you to marry and have a baby.
Do you try to keep your daughters connected with your language and culture?
Taha My daughters love it here, but they are not disconnected from their culture or language, because of the internet, YouTube, they see serials or movies, and because we communicate in Farsi at home; I text them in Farsi. I like that they know it. Language has our knowledge — it’s something very valuable. We don’t ignore our culture, but we prefer it here.
Hossein Language is important — not the culture or things that we escaped from, but definitely language.
How did Zand Kitchen start?
Hossein Taha started Zand Kitchen, making different sauces and dressings, in Hamilton. She used
to go to a different market every Saturday — the Parnell Market, Tamahere Market in Hamilton,
and another in Mount Maunganui. She found out the Tauranga Farmers Market is very popular,
so she started coming here once a month, then stopped going to other markets.
Taha I didn’t earn too much money — our sauce was very good, but people don’t buy too much,
then I baked some flat bread to try the sauces, but I saw people come to try the bread not the sauces!
Hossein She told me, ‘People are coming back for more bread. I want to make some flatbread or lavosh for Tauranga.’ It was a little bit strange to me. But she sold out really quick. So she made
more and more.
Taha And four years ago, I started only making bread.
What inspired your last move from Te Awamutu to Tauranga?
Taha I used to come from Te Awamutu for the [Tauranga Farmers] market for three years. But we don’t like to live in a small town — all our lives, we live in a big city.
Hossein Yes, we prefer to live in a busy, crowded city. And when we moved to New Zealand, I thought there’s lots of opportunities to go the beach, go swimming, do water activities. Sometimes I went to Mount Maunganui beach — I started thinking, this is a lovely city… Taha said, ‘Why don’t we go there? You love Tauranga, I love Tauranga…’
Find Zand Kitchen at the Tauranga Farmers Market on Saturdays or to order online, visit zandkitchen.co.nz
Photography by ilk
