Archive for category: Organic Week

OrganicNZ Community Garden of the Year

Voting runs from 3 April – 29 April

This award recognises the most popular community garden in Aotearoa!

We want to highlight the beautiful, productive māra and community gardens supporting food security and sharing knowledge around the country. 

The Criteria

Nominations for this category have to be:

• A community garden! Whether based in your neighbourhood, marae, school, or your local park, nominations have to be for a specific community garden that is managed and shared by the community. 

• Not-for-profit. This award will go to a voluntary scheme where food is provided for free.

• Spray-free! We’d like all nominations to be gardens using organic principles such as composting, spray-free and nature-friendly.

The finalists

Golden Bay Sustainable Living Centre
https://www.gbslc.org/
Since 1986, Golden Bay Sustainable Living Centre has fostered community gardening through regenerative organic practices. It provides growing space, organic produce to those in need, garden supplies, education, and events, engaging volunteers locally and globally in its holistic vision for connected communities.

Te Māra Hapori o Parihaka – Parihaka Community Garden, Taranaki
https://www.facebook.com/ParihakaPKRauFestival
Te Māra Hapori ki Parihaka blends collective gardening, Te Reo Māori revitalisation, and regenerative agriculture. By supporting three Marae and fostering community, it honours the legacy of Tohu Kākahi and Te Whiti o Rongomai. Regular working bees celebrate traditions, provide tons of organic produce, and promote peaceful resistance.

Grow Community Garden, Masterton
https://www.wcct.co.nz/
Established in 2022, Grow Community Garden fosters food resilience and mental well-being through organic vegetable cultivation. Linked to Food Resilience Wairarapa, it welcomes diverse cultures, offering workshops to remove barriers to food growing and utilising the gardens for community benefit and education.

Smith Street Community Farm, Christchurch
https://smithst.nz/
Smith Street Community Farm incorporates productive gardens, plot holding, and a foraging pathway. With volunteer sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, they are bringing the community together to cultivate fresh produce, share knowledge, and promote sustainable agriculture for all. Ōrewa Community

Garden, Hibiscus Coast 
https://www.facebook.com/SustainableOrewa/
The Ōrewa community garden, inspired by permaculture principles, showcases possibilities in an average suburban backyard. With an amazing bunch of supporters, this community garden is sharing gardening knowledge, inspiring backyard growing and contributing surplus produce to the Hibiscus Coast community house food bank.

Each vote you make gives you one entry into the draw to win one of two $50 Kings Seeds Vouchers. Voting closes on 2 May, the winners of the seeds will be notified shortly after.

Organic NZ Beverage of the Year

Voting runs from April 3 – 29 April

This award recognises the most popular organic beverage in Aotearoa this year.   

The Criteria

Nominations for this category have to be:

• A drink! Anything that goes towards quenching your thirst or providing a delightful accompaniment to food. This includes bottled, canned or sachet drinks – anything you’d serve up in a cup or glass and enjoy with friends and family.

• Organic! The product needs to carry an organic certification. This includes Hua Parakore verification, OFNZ organic certification or organic certification, e.g. from BioGro, Asure Quality or accredited international certifiers.

The finalists

Daily Organics Kombucha
https://www.dailyorganics.com/pages/kombucha
Daily Organics Kombucha is 100% organic certified, gluten-free, and dairy-free, brewed with premium organic tea and pristine artesian water. ‘’I enjoy its clean, vibrant taste for digestive health, energy boost, and immune support.’’

IncaFe Organic Coffee
https://www.incafe.co.nz/
IncaFe Organic Coffee is not just delicious; it’s fair trade with genuinely passionate people behind their work. Committed to people and the planet, they prioritise sustainability. The coffee’s exceptional quality stems from its careful sourcing and thoughtful development, making each cup special.

Otis Oat M!lk. The Organic One
https://otisoatmilk.co.nz/pages/organic
The Organic One, is made from 100% organic New Zealand oats, offering a clean label m!lk experience. With minimal inputs and just three simple ingredients, it’s gentle on the land and perfect for any occasion. ‘’Lovely, so creamy and NZ made’.

Wrights Reserve Organic Chardonnay
https://www.wrightswines.co.nz/
Wrights Reserve Chardonnay is a bold wine of distinction. Deep straw in colour. Exuding rich aromas of ripe yellow stonefruits, tropical fruits along with citrus fruit elements entwined with creamy barrel-ferment and nutty toasty oak ”I love this beverage because of its exceptional quality and unique characteristics”.

Neudorf Rosie’s Block Moutere Organic Chardonnay
https://neudorf.co.nz/products/neudorf-rosies-block-chardonnay-2018
Rosie’s Block Chardonnay offers a modern, vibrant expression of the Moutere terroir. With elegant oak, savoury notes, and a chalky texture, it embodies sophistication and harmony, reminiscent of a lazy summer evening. ”I think this wine is a brilliant example of exquisitely made organic wine”.

Each vote you make gives you one entry into the draw to win one of two $50 Kings Seeds Vouchers. Voting closes on 2 May, the winners of the seeds will be notified shortly after.

Organic NZ Leader of the Year

This award celebrates those who have gone above and beyond to build, support and promote organics in Aotearoa throughout the years. It will be presented to an organics champion who has inspired others by their work and commitment to the organic movement and industry within their own work and in the wider community.

Note: Judges will take into account practices such as packaging practices, sustainable energy and resource use, advocacy for organics and other certifications, eg living wage and carbon zero. These are examples, not requirements.  

2024 FINALISTS

Cleo Te Kiri
Cleo leads the Pāmu Central North Island organic dairy group, overseeing four dairy farms and a support block. She focuses on demonstrating best practice farming practices, achieving high production, and upholding environmental sustainability. With a deep con to organic farming values, she actively advocates for their adoption within the sector, speaking on panels and forums to promote environmentally friendly practices. Passionate about her team, Cleo embeds organic principles into their culture, fostering a consistently strong performance. She made history with Pāmu by being the first to manage an organic conversion, showcasing her boldness, encouragement and resilience in challenging the norms and achieving success.

Charles Merfield
Dr. Charles Merfield (widely known as Merf) is a researcher, educator, consultant, advisor, and advocate for the organic sector. Merf is Head of the Future Farming Centre at the BHU (Biological Husbandry Unit Organics Trust), where he dedicates himself to science and extension of permanent and whole-system agricultures and horticulture, including organic agriculture, agroecology, and biological farming. He regularly contributes to OrganicsNZ magazine, teaches tertiary students & mentors stepping-stone students at the BHU and sits on the advisory board for OANZ.

Yuriy Soshnikov
Yuriy and Victoria Soshnikov have been the operators of TranzAlpine Honey for the past 18 years. They’ve trailblazed the organic honey industry in New Zealand, becoming the largest organic honey producer and the number one organic honey brand in the country. They’ve exported over 1 million jars of honey worldwide and supply over 50% of organic honey in the EU/UK annually. At the heart of it all, Yuriy is a beekeeper. You will find him alongside other beekeepers, traversing the Canterbury high country in all kinds of weather, collecting honey, checking in on the bees and overseeing everything from harvest to processing, packaging, marketing and export.

Organic Regenerative Farmer of the Year

This award recognises a leader who has played an instrumental role in the organic community, celebrating those whose work showcases organic regenerative farming systems.

It is open to certified organic or verified kai atua food producers who are successfully leading the way to rebuild biodiversity, mitigate climate change and work in harmony with nature and the planet to provide healthy food or other organic products.

Note: judges will also take into account other practices consistent with organic production. The following are examples of relevant practices and are not requirements for entry: packaging practices, sustainable energy and resource use, advocacy for organics and other certifications such as living wage, carbon zero.  

2024 Finalists

Charlotte and Russell Heald
Russell and Charlotte Heald farm organic and regenerative dairy with their three children and farm team in Norsewood. Since their transition to regenerative farming and once-a-day milking seven years ago, the Healds have created a low-stress farming system.

Logan Kerr
Established in 2014, the Streamside team have transformed a modest 1-acre plot into a thriving 50-acre organic haven. Led by Dominique and Logan, the team is passionate about delivering fresh, organic produce via weekly veggie box deliveries and farmers’ markets. Driven by a commitment to sustainability, they prioritise organic farming practices that respect the environment and promote community well-being to cultivate a healthier, more sustainable future, one harvest at a time.

Mark McCusker
Heathstock Apiaries is a second-generation beekeeping business based in Waipara Gorge. Specialising in organic Manuka Honey production, they have proudly partnered with their main landowners for over 40 years. The beehives are mainly situated on two large high country stations, MacDonald Downs and Glens of Tekoa. The team are continually in contact with these landowners and their neighbours to ensure that herbicide and pesticide treatments are not used within a 3km radius of a bee site. Heathstock Apiaries has been organically certified since 1993, currently with Asure Quality.

Vanessa Hayes
Torere Macadamias has been certified organic since 2013 and is dedicated to establishing an organic commercial macadamia nut industry in New Zealand. Founder Vanessa Hayes began her macadamia research in 1983 to find the best varieties for her own macadamia orchard development. She contributed her orchard block at Torere in 1993 to trial the best-dropping commercial macadamia nut varieties sourced from Australia and New Zealand.