Celebrate what thrives
If you’ve ever spent time in North Canterbury, you’ll know the land is vast, beautiful, and highly productive. This mighty region stretches from the Waimakariri River inland to Oxford, Culverden, and Hanmer Springs and all the way up to the north end of Kaikōura; an expansive area home to over 90 vineyards, immense beef, sheep and crop farms, forests rich with wild game, productive market gardens, orchards, nut groves, truffiѐres, and apiaries, as well as rivers and a coastline full of kaimoana. And working away amongst it all is a busy community of clever people growing, crafting, and producing an abundance of deliciousness.
Back in 2020, this community of North Canterbury food and beverage producers highlighted the need for an overarching brand under which they could collaborate, connect, and grow. Thus, Made North Canterbury was born. Made North Canterbury is an online platform and provenance brand that highlights and celebrates what’s grown, made, reared, and caught within the thriving North Canterbury region. As an initiative of Enterprise North Canterbury, it showcases everything from the little-known producers, growers, and makers to the popular breweries, wineries, restaurants, and farmers’ markets that call North Canterbury home.
For consumers, the Made North Canterbury brand is a symbol of authenticity and traceability, enabling them to support local while purchasing the freshest food without the need for extensive food miles, packaging, and long-life additives. Made North Canterbury members must meet internationally recognised provenance criteria in order to sign up, meaning consumers know, without a doubt, that a Made North Canterbury member product is as local as can be.
Whilst the #supportlocal movement picked up huge amounts of steam during recent lockdowns, supporting local goes much, much deeper than a feelgood hashtag on social media. To support a small, local business is to support your local economy, your local community, and your local families. By choosing local, you’re choosing to support somebody’s dream and keep their dream afloat for the betterment of your community. The collaboration and support of other local businesses within the Made North Canterbury community is huge, meaning for each local business you choose to back, the flow-on effect reaches far and wide.
Indeed, Christchurch retailers are increasingly aware of consumers’ desire to purchase food and beverages made in their backyard, with numerous New World supermarkets throughout the city, speciality grocers like Riverside Market and Frances Nation Grocer, and countless cafés and restaurants now stocking and serving Made North Canterbury member products. With over 70 members producing everything from wine, beer, gin, and mead to gourmet black truffle, fresh microgreens, roasted hazelnuts, merino lamb, handmade goat’s cheese, crackers, honey, eggs, and hemp hearts, supporting local has never tasted so good.