Canterbury grower finds success with turning quinoa passion into niche crop

Saturday, 6 June 2026

Canterbury is one of New Zealand’s food baskets, with its crops filling larders across Aotearoa and beyond. The Press’ Homegrown series champions local growers — from generations-old family farms to new ventures — as they face rising costs, processing plant closures, and competition from cheaper imports.

What do a gluten-free harvester, quinoa and porridge have in common? Methven farmer Andrew Currie.

Currie grows and sells Canterbury-grown quinoa, a crop that requires dedicated harvesting equipment to prevent contamination from gluten-containing grains such as wheat.

Using machinery that has previously harvested wheat can contaminate quinoa, making it unsuitable for some consumers who follow a gluten-free diet.

Earlier this year, Currie used his dedicated gluten-free harvester to bring in the latest crop.

He packages it under the brand name Canterbury Quinoa and sells it from his website, canterburyquinoa.co.nz, and to health food and specialist shops. Some is organic.

The ancient grain from the Andes is high in fibre, protein and essential amino acids.

Currie likes quinoa porridge for breakfast and savours quinoa breads. The flaked product can replace most dry ingredients in baking or as a thickener in soups.

The whole grain is best treated like rice and works a treat in salads, he said.

Lots of New Zealand-grown quinoa is sold to dog food makers - because some people do not like dog food that is padded out with grains. “People pay a premium for it,” Currie said.

With partner Gaewynne Hood, Currie spends about 30% of their business time on quinoa, but it generates 10% of their income - perhaps less these days, because costs have risen. “But I like doing it,” he said.

The rest of the time he grows - or tries to grow - a wide range of crops on the 300-hectare Avonmore Farm near Methven.

He grows wheat and barley and, until recently, peas. But “there’s no fun in growing just them”, he said.

He is always on the hunt for new crops to trial and hopefully sell.

In the 1980s, the farm tried growing Hungarian millet, primarily a birdseed, but the quantities after hulling were not large enough.

At one point, he had 13ha in camelina, an oilseed, but it sat in the silo for three years.

He’s tried growing rapeseed, broccoli seed, buckwheat, chicory, chrysanthemums.

Hamburger lupines took too long to grow.

“We tried chickpeas. They just failed,” he said.

“Maybe one in 10 pods had a seed and the rest … didn't pollinate, so there's something more to learn about chickpeas.”

Niger, another birdseed, also “failed quite well”.

Canary seed still sells to birdseed makers. “It's itchy as hell at harvest time,” Currie said, but noted it keeps the bank manager happy.

As this interview was under way, Currie got word that the linseed that he harvested in April last year had finally sold. “It’s no better a price than what it was back [then] but anyway, we got rid of it.”

Sunflowers were good for a time, but good nor’westers knocked them over - or the birds got to them first. Now, he grows sunflower to give away to the community.

Some years he grows borage, another specialist oil seed.

Amaranthus, another Andean superfood, grows well in Canterbury.

This season, he grew crops for seed that other farmers plant, including barley, three different rye grasses, two millets and peas (for seed). He grows silage to give soils a break and manage weeds.

Currie is forever experimenting. When he heard the UN General Assembly had declared 2013 to be International Year of Quinoa, he went round to the supermarket, bought some and planted it. It grew.

Currie has 2000 sheep on the property, but “hates” them. “They spend all of their time trying to die and we spend all our time trying to keep them alive,” he said.

“I’ve got about $12,000 worth of wool and it’s cost me $8000 to get it, so I’m quite happy with that.”

It’s been a few years since sheep farmers made money, he said.