Commercial quantities of organics vegetables have been a dream for Goodness Kitchen since they launched the brand two years ago. The brand; built around honest and ethical supply, have developed their business in frozen fruit so a progression to frozen vegetables was a natural step. The problem being, New Zealand simply doesn’t grow the commercial quantities needed to supply the mainstream market. Goodness Kitchen soon realised they needed close to 200 tonnes annually to meet the growing demand for synthetic spray free vegetables.
The opportunity for organic vegetables in New Zealand is sizable. New Zealanders are becoming more and more aware of what they are putting into their bodies and are searching out wholesome artificial spray free options. Total organics are growing at 127 percent in grocery and 9.5 percent of total frozen fruit sales come from organic fruit. In the most developed markets, organic vegetables make up to 10 percent of total frozen vegetable sales and organic produce is growing at a CAGR of 66 percent over the past 15 years.
“As a nation, we are wanting to make better food choices every day, we were getting approached time and time again about artificial free spray options in vegetables. It was no longer good enough just to be NZ grown. Our internal research was showing that consumers were willing to pay for premium quality frozen organics,” said brand manager, Poppy Binning. The range has been independently certified organic in New Zealand to Assure Quality standards and carries their logo on front of pack. Certification means the farming processes are approved and all social and ethical practices have been met through the whole supply chain.
After exhausting local supply options, the team at Goodness Kitchen began the search globally to find good quality certified organics and landed in Europe.
“We looked at the options being sold in global markets and found that places like the Netherlands, Germany and Spain were the leading producers of Organic Vegetables. We wanted a level of product that our consumers can trust; our big drivers were quality, safety, pricing and taste. We needed to find a product that didn’t comprise on taste and delivered to our honest sourcing approach,” said Binning.
Goodness Kitchen has launched five new SKUs into the market –Mixed Garden Vegetables, Garden Peas, Sweet Corn, Green Beans and a Broccoli/Cauliflower Blend. The range is packed in New Zealand and uses sustainable cardboard packaging and recyclable soft plastics. The new range is supported with extensive print media coverage and a heavy weighted social media plan.
The range is available in the frozen section at New World, Pak n Save, Raeward Fresh and Farro stores nationwide.
For more information call 03 538 0771 or email info@goodnesskitchen.co.nz.
