Co-op aims to provide cheap produce

Whangarei mum Laura Cates' business the Fresh Food Collective aims to provide cheaper fruits and vegetables to local people, and is expanding throughout Northland. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Whangarei woman Laura Cates is on a mission to make cheaper fresh produce accessible to all Northlanders.

Her business the Fresh Food Collective sources fruits and vegetables from the same wholesalers as supermarkets, such as Turners and Growers, and sells directly to the public at around a 40 per cent discount on supermarket prices.

Customers sign up for boxes of goodies worth either $10 or $20, and collect them once a week from the Old Library.

She has new premises opening up in Whau Valley on June 16, and after that in Tikipunga and the Mid North.

The produce is whatever she has managed to source from wholesalers - "I can negotiate the backside off everything" - and varies depending on what is available.

The idea for the Fresh Food Collective came from Mrs Cates' horror at the price of fruits and veges from the supermarket.

The former banker and insurance worker had her first child last year, and got a shock when she looked at her first grocery bill on a single income.

She then developed more sympathy for families on low incomes who were forced to feed their children poor-quality food.

"It wasn't until I was trying to feed my family the same way I had on two incomes, that I realised it isn't necessarily bad food choices, it's just damn expensive."

She began researching online for anything resembling co-ops in Whangarei.

An arrangement in Christchurch linked with the Canterbury District Health Board caught her eye, and she got in touch with the organiser to find out more. "It started just after the earthquakes."

The Fresh Food Collective began in January, and 120 people signed up in the first week.

The Facebook page, where Mrs Cates initially did much of her promotion, now has more than 1300 "likes".

She initially expected her customers to be from lower income households, but said they are generally from more middle-income families.

Mrs Cates has about six people who help her with the collective, mainly family and friends, and now has some of her clients helping out too.

"It's very much a labour of love at the moment, because our profit margins are so low," she said.

"I would love to be able to pay people once we expand a bit more."

She gets a lot of satisfaction in seeing families come in for their boxes, and has had great feedback.

"The kids come in and they're so excited to be picking up their food, then you see them bouncing off, munching on a carrot - it's great."

-To sign up, go to www.freshfoodcollective.com for details, or text 021 207 1331.