"Northland is a great place to start relying on locally grown", said chef Josh Tatu. “We have an abundance of produce around.”
"Northland is a great place to start relying on locally grown", said chef Josh Tatu. “We have an abundance of produce around.”
A Kaitāia chef is on a mission to support small local produce growers by using their fresh supplies in his professional kitchen - a gesture that’s been called a “lifeline”.
Josh Tatu’s goal comes as gardening businesses notice a rise in people growing their own fruit and vegetables, suggesting a shift away from increasingly costly and trucked-in conveniences.
Tatu has been a chef for around 10 years after graduating from the Auckland Hotel and Chefs Training School. He moved north for a change of lifestyle and after less than a year of living in Kaitāia scored a gig running the Collards Sports Bar, Gaming Lounge and Restaurant kitchen on his own.
When he was given a bit of leeway to manage the small kitchen at Collards Tavern he seized the opportunity to realise a longstanding vision.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do - to show what can sustainably be done with the produce we grow here, to meet people in our local community and hear their stories,” he said.
“They come in and tell me how and where it’s been grown, and the effort that’s gone into it.”
Cutting costs also seemed likely, Tatu said. A crucial benefit as inflation, fuel costs and weather-related impacts on roads made transport costlier than ever.
According to Stats NZ, food price inflation is at its highest level in 36 years. Its food price index - based on the year ended in April - captured an increase in fruit and vegetable prices of more than 22 per cent.
Tatu intended to build the menu around seasonal ingredients moving forward, which meant at least four new menus would be implemented each year.
He initiated the change at the start of June by speaking to customers and writing a Facebook post that shared his quest to “help out our local growers and producers.”
“We would much rather choose aunty’s veges and help out our locals than the alternative,” he wrote.
It wasn’t long before a crate of carrots and herbs was dropped off, marking the start of a relationship with Pukenui-based grower Ruth Tirini.
“It’s really courageous what Josh is doing. And quite humbling”, Tirini said.
“He could easily go the major supplier route.
“His kaupapa to support local and small businesses resonates for the organic and local community.”
Pukenui-based Ruth Tirini said supplying the kitchen at Collards was a lifeline to her small produce-growing business, and had opened new doors. “If it works really well, maybe I’ll knock on the doors of other chefs.”
Tirini said she’d always loved growing veggies and attempted to make a living out of it after Covid forced her to close her after-school care business.
“We had just purchased land and I’ve always loved growing veggies so just rolled into that.”
Her company, Flourish Puāwai, is named for her ambition towards more than just survival.
“It’s about flourishing with good healthy veggies that feel the soul, not just the body.”
Tirini said she’d nearly called it quits but was glad to have persevered long enough to partner with Tatu and make a crucial change to her business structure.
“I started out producing veggie boxes to sell to families in the area, but summer rain and bugs destroyed a lot of those crops.”
“It was a crazy season in terms of weather, and also my first so it was a big learning curve. I was thinking to stop, but then I saw Josh’s post and thought I’d keep at it.
“I felt I had to diversify for family food boxes but for a chef, I could go hard on the crops I do well. It’s been a bit of a lifeline, actually.”
Tirini currently uses two tunnel houses and a small glasshouse for seedlings but she isn’t the only one.
Debi Cargill, who owns Bloomfields Garden Centre with her husband, has observed a definite rise in customers keen to grow their own produce.
“The growth in veggie seedling and seed sales has been incredible,” she said.
“Especially in the last year, but really since the beginning of Covid when some people started to feel nervous they wouldn’t be able to get vegetables at the grocery store.”
Cargill’s business began selling greenhouses and glasshouses after noticing aspiring growers were increasingly frustrated by this year’s wet and windy weather.
A few days after sharing the news about the products on offer, Cargill said a dozen people came through asking for brochures.
Pukenui-based Ruth Tirini.
Grow Your Own Northland owner director Michelle Wilson-Astle said high produce costs had motivated many people to invest in planter boxes for long-term self-sufficiency.
“People are telling us produce for the week is costing them more than $90, and that’s just for a couple.
“Bigger families are struggling to feed themselves,” she said.
Wilson-Astle, one of the company’s four owner/directors, said there had been “a huge increase in people buying raised planters” since Cyclone Gabrielle.
“And not just individuals and families. Community gardens, marae and school groups.
“There’s a lot of work being done to help people pitch in, share the work, and reduce costs.”
Medium-sized planter boxes - primarily for people who were getting started - were the most popular choice, Wilson-Astle said.
“It’s an investment people are willing to make given the high cost of produce.”
Tatu welcomed growers of the following to contact him: kumaras, potatoes (preferably agria), tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, kiwifruit, apples, chives, basil, bananas, red and white cabbage, micro herbs and pumpkin. Ring Josh on 408 2348 or email kitchencollards@gmail.com
“The people supplying us produce have become our friends, and we’re still looking for more local growers,” he said.
