Ambrosia Still Blooming After 18 Years

Business owner Shani Hopgood was given the opportunity of a lifetime to work with one of New Zealand’s best florists more than 30 years ago.

Taught by Donna Macpherson in the South City florist she biked past every day on her way home from school, Shani went on to become Southland Junior Florist of the Year and won the National junior title that same year as well.

That decision at 16 to finish school and start her career eventually took her to Wellington where she worked in corporate flowers for movie sets and the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

“That was a really cool experience when I moved up into the world of corporate flowers, because I had a much bigger scope to work with."

But the South always called her back, and 18 years ago she came home and created Ambrosia.

Shani’s love of food and flowers was the decision behind the business name, but also her original floral designs —some customers were not sure what to expect when they ordered cupcakes and fruit bursts.

“it was probably a bit ahead of its time.”

Ambrosia means ‘Food of the Gods - delicious to taste or smell,’ but she’s since transitioned from food-themed floral arrangements to avoid confusion.

Purchasing ‘Flowers from Rosemary,’ and rebranding when she moved back south with her husband and daughter, Shani’s moved premises three times within the city, and survived many changes in the economy.

At their peak they employed five staff members, but in recent years they’ve had to downsize to just three.  Growers were becoming scarce and sourcing good quality flowers was challenging.

“Like everything in the world, flowers have gone up.  There are less and less growers so the price has gone up.  We have noticed it this year particularly.”

Shani said while flowers were a luxury item, they still wanted them to be affordable.

Florist shops were also becoming rare, there were few in Queenstown or Te Anau so Shani supplied to all of those markets as well.

She feels fortunate that she found her path in life at such a young age, and still wakes up every morning excited for her day ahead and looking forward to working with the blooms.

Every season mother nature produces something new and Shani says she’s still like a kid in a candy store when all of the new colours and varieties arrive.

And she was still blown away with the impression flowers had on her customers when they stepped into the shop as well.

“They walk in and the smell, it just calms them.  We see their personalities changing.”

Ambrosia offers a service where staff place strong emphasis on the personal  details for every customer - they cater for all events from school balls, to funerals and weddings.