These companies form the hidden infrastructure of organics.
Most people think they buy from a farm.
In reality they buy through one of these three.

They connect grower → distributor → retailer → you.

1) Purefresh Organic

Category: Fresh produce distributor (fruit & veg backbone of supermarkets)

Who they are

• One of New Zealand’s largest marketers of organic fruit & vegetables
• Works with a nationwide network of certified growers
• BioGro and AgriQuality certified distributor
• Has North & South Island collection and distribution hubs
• Based in Mt Wellington, Auckland
• Part of the J&P Turner produce group

When they started

The brand has evolved out of the commercial produce supply chain rather than a grassroots co-op movement.
Unlike the other two, it grew from the produce trade adapting to organic demand rather than activism.

Key people

Public facing leadership is low-profile.
Organic Farmers NZ recommends contacting “Rob” internally for growers

Shareholding

Owned within the J&P Turner produce distribution group
(meaning: corporate produce supply structure rather than family-run organic movement)

What they specialise in

• Fresh fruit & vegetables
• Supermarket scale distribution
• Consistent supply nationwide

Strengths

• Reliability of supply (critical for supermarkets)
• Handles volume
• Enables organics to exist at mainstream retail scale

What they’re best known for

If Countdown/Woolworths or Pak’nSave has organic carrots in winter
…there’s a high probability Purefresh made that possible.

How to understand them

They are not ideological organics.
They are infrastructure organics.

They made organics normal.

2) Chantal Organics

Category: Packaged foods + wholesale distribution (pantry organics)

Who they are

Started as families trying to find real food before supermarkets stocked it.

• Founded 1978 as a whole-food co-op
• Founded by Maureen Ward & Peter Alexander
• Hawke’s Bay based
• Nationwide distributor to grocery & health stores
• Over 200 NZ organic growers in supply network

Leadership today

• CEO: Pablo Kraus

Ownership

• Wholesale arm acquired by Peter Kraus Group (Ecostore owners) in 2016
• Company ultimately owned by Whyte Adder No 3 Ltd

So:

Started grassroots → became family business → now ethical corporate ownership

What they specialise in

• Pantry staples
• Grains, spreads, cereals, sauces
• Bulk foods
• Retail + wholesale

Strengths

• Trusted household brand
• Bridge between alternative food culture and supermarkets
• Local manufacturing still in NZ

What they’re best known for

The brand that taught New Zealand what organic even meant in the 90s.

If someone says:

“We grew up eating organic peanut butter”
They probably mean Chantal.

How to understand them

They domesticated organics.

They made it family-friendly instead of fringe.

3) Ceres Organics

Category: Ideology-driven importer + distributor + brand

Who they are

• Began early 1980s as a collective
• Founder: Noel Josephson
• One of Australasia’s leading organic distributors
• BioGro certified distributor since 2001

Mission:

“Bring healing to the earth and humankind.”

They genuinely mean it.

Ownership

Privately held values-driven company
(founder-led leadership rather than corporate acquisition)

What they specialise in

• Imported organic staples
• Health food store supply
• Ethical sourcing partnerships
• Alternative foods (ferments, superfoods, vegan, gluten-free)

Strengths

• Strong philosophy & transparency
• International sourcing relationships
• Leads trends before supermarkets adopt them

What they’re best known for

The brand that stocked your pantry before the trend existed.

Tahini, tamari, coconut aminos, apple cider vinegar…
They arrived years before mainstream demand.

How to understand them

They evangelised organics.

They made it a worldview rather than a product.

The Three Archetypes (Why this matters)

Without Purefresh → empty shelves
Without Chantal → no mass adoption
Without Ceres → no movement

For someone new to organics (the important bit)

You are not choosing a product.

You are choosing a supply philosophy.

Supermarket organic produce
→ usually Purefresh supply chain

Everyday organic pantry
→ often Chantal ecosystem

Health-store / intentional buying
→ often Ceres ecosystem

They overlap, but the intent differs.

A practical way to read labels

If you want to understand where food sits:

• Looks normal, just organic → infrastructure organics (Purefresh type)
• Looks like food your mum trusts → family organics (Chantal type)
• Looks like it belongs in a naturopath’s cupboard → movement organics (Ceres type)

None are fake.
They just represent different stages of a food culture evolving.