Organic Certification

The properties that form part of Monavale Blueberries were purchased over a period of eleven years starting from 1985. As the properties had never been farmed before, they remained free from chemical pollution, and this made them ideal to farm organically. Being organic means that beneficial microorganisms and soil biology are promoted, which feeds healthy plants.

Monavale Blueberries Limited has full BioGro New Zealand organic status. The reasons for this are threefold:

• Firstly, we want to farm the land in an environmentally sustainable, natural and chemical-free way
• Secondly, we want to provide those who wish to eat healthily with a good quality, nutrient-rich, organically-certified product
• Thirdly, our families live on the property, and wish to maintain a healthy and chemical-free lifestyle.

Monavale Blueberries was the first substantial sized orchard in New Zealand to grow blueberries organically, and remains the largest. A safe and healthy working environment is of paramount importance. Growing organically involves a lot of extra time and resources, compared with non-organic growing. Certification processes (BioGro) and buying organic fertilisers are additional costs that non-organic producers do not have to bear. Moreover, maintaining the property organically is much more labour intensive than conventional farming, because everything needs to be done by hand rather than simply spraying all the weeds dead. But, we believe these extra costs are outweighed by the positive environmental impact and sustainable land management benefits that growing organically generates along with producing a high quality and nutrient-rich product.