Support Local Organics Out West

The fastest growing mutli-food sector in the world is organic and part of this growth is the consumer’s desire for local food.

“Recent market research confirms what we have known for decades, human health is linked to healthy food and healthy soil.” Says Joanne Bromley, Managing Director of Glen Eden retail store ‘Organic Out West’. “Our store specialises in serving the local west Auckland community through providing home-grown fresh produce, a wide range of dietary and health needs a café and naturopathic consultation. We have been doing this successfully for four years and want to keep going.”

The rapid national and international growth – 15% per annum since 2015 - has meant that supermarkets have also caught the organic wave and are now the biggest retailers of organic in New Zealand. Foodstuffs NZ’s house brand Pams has an organic range now and Countdown has a dedicated organic label Macro.

“We are happy with the mainstreaming of organic, but this has placed pressure on us to survive this rapid change. As a small local player we have had to adapt and restructure ourselves,” said Joanne. “As a result of that we will be downsizing and moving premises to Glen Mall in Glen Eden so we can continue to serve our community better and attract new clients from increased profile and foot traffic. We accept we have to adapt to stay in business.”

However, the cost of the transition is not so easy for any small business.

“We are doing as much as we can right now to get our new space ready. But we will require some help in the transition towards the end of January 2019,” Joanne said. “We have a Facebook page where people can pledge a sum to help us move and in return get that amount in goods. We have also developed a ‘give a little’ page. All scale of pledges is welcome.”

The success of small and medium businesses is crucial for local economies and employment. Staying in business keeps the wheels of society moving.

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