At Zea, we've always believed that natural products are at their best when they carry a story worth telling. This year, we're proud to share one of the most meaningful projects we've ever been part of: a collaboration with Palawa Kipli, a 100% Aboriginal-owned business, to bring their very first packaged retail product to life.

In this blog, we will uncover the story behind our partnership with Palawa Kipli, what Native 9-Spice represents, and why this launch is timed around NAIDOC Week 2026.

A Partnership Rooted in Respect

This project began with a simple idea: to bring together Zea's experience in product development with Palawa Kipli's cultural leadership and deep knowledge of native ingredients, and create something that is both commercially strong and culturally meaningful.

From the very first conversation, this partnership has been guided by a shared set of values:

• Cultural respect: ensuring Indigenous knowledge, practices and perspectives are honoured and protected throughout

• Storytelling: weaving the narrative of both organisations into something that resonates

• Product innovation: creating something unique, high-quality, and authentically rooted in nature and culture

• Community benefit: making sure the impact extends beyond the product itself

Both Zea and Palawa Kipli have approached this as a genuine collaboration, built on trust, transparency, and shared decision-making, and it led to the first product of its kind: Native 9-Spice.

Introducing Native 9-Spice

Nine Nations. One Country. One Spice.

Native 9-Spice is a native seasoning blend for everyday cooking, made in collaboration between Zea and Palawa Kipli, a 100% Aboriginal owned and operated business in Lutruwita (Tasmania). Palawa Kipli's work is rooted in native foods and cultural food practices, sharing the tastes of Country, running bush food tours and experiences, and bringing the Palawa community together. Native 9-Spice is their first packaged product, and the first Aboriginal-owned bush spice blend made in Lutruwita.

Truth-Telling Through Food

Before invasion, Lutruwita was made up of many thriving Nations, each with their own language, knowledge, and relationship to Country. Native 9-Spice honours that diversity, bringing together flavours inspired by those nine Nations into one powerful blend. Every ingredient carries meaning. Together, they hold the nine Nations of this island in one blend, a way to remember, to honour, and to keep telling the story.

This is a way of continuing stories that were kept hidden from the wider community for hundreds of years. The blend honours the tribes who did not survive colonisation, ensuring they are remembered and represented rather than forgotten, while also acknowledging the strength and resilience of the community that did survive, and who continue to live with and care for Country today as the Palawa people.

For Palawa Kipli, this project is about far more than a single product launch. It's an opportunity to represent their community within the bush food industry, reconnect people with cultural food practices, and share native ingredients grown and harvested on the land they belong to.

Mentoring Palawa Kipli's First Product

Native 9-Spice is Palawa Kipli's first packaged retail product, and Zea's role in this collaboration goes beyond commercial support alone. Throughout the project, our team has been mentoring Palawa Kipli through every stage of bringing a product to market, from recipe development and food safety compliance through to packaging production, e-commerce, and launch planning.

Our hope is that this partnership does more than launch one product. By sharing our knowledge, templates, and experience, we want to help lay the foundation for Palawa Kipli's own future product lines, so their business, and their community, can continue to grow and thrive well beyond this launch.

A New Revenue Stream for Palawa Kipli

All profits from Native 9-Spice go directly to Palawa Kipli. This creates a genuine, sustainable new revenue stream that supports their ongoing work, including their bush food tours and experiences, cultural education, and the broader work of bringing the Palawa community together around native foods.

This project was never designed to be a one-off. It's intended as a starting point, a foundation Palawa Kipli can build on as they continue to grow their own product lines and commercial pathways into the future.

Zea's Reconciliation Action Plan Commitment

This collaboration also marks an important milestone for Zea as a business. Native 9-Spice contributes to our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) commitment, reflecting our broader commitment to reconciliation and to supporting Aboriginal-owned businesses.

For us, this project is another chance to continue our commitment through mentoring, resourcing, and standing alongside Palawa Kipli as they bring their first product to market.

Celebrating During NAIDOC Week 2026

The timing of this launch is intentional. Native 9-Spice launches online on Monday 6 July 2026, during NAIDOC Week 2026 (5–12 July), with this year's national theme being "50 Years of Deadly," marking 50 years since NAIDOC Week began. A physical launch event will also be hosted by Palawa Kipli during the week, bringing community, culture, and celebration together in person.

NAIDOC Week is a time to recognise and celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and we can't think of a more fitting time to share this project with the world.

In Closing

Native 9-Spice was never just about creating a product; it's about backing Palawa Kipli to build something lasting, on their terms, for their community. Projects like this are a reminder of what genuine partnership can look like: one business sharing its knowledge and experience, and another leading with culture, story, and connection to Country.

We're proud to walk alongside Palawa Kipli on this journey, and even prouder that their first product is one so deeply rooted in truth, culture, and community.