YOUR HOSTS

Taste Nature is a Dunedin business with a heartbeat. Founded upon ethical and sustainable values, and a holistic model of health and healing, its owners Clinton Chambers and Rodney McDonald see it as the best way to contribute to a better community, world, and Whenua.

Both the values and the vision for Taste Nature are created from the collaborative energy of living and working in harmony with nature from their organic gardens in Waitati and the thriving vibe of their store.

Clinton and Rodney, together with their team of staff and practitioners, share a vision to create a sustainable, ethical, and local economic system that supports the wellbeing of individuals, engages our community, cares for our planet, furthers our education, and is in harmony with nature.

ABOUT US

Taste Nature is a leading socially conscious business supporting our community and environment.

As we identify as a Māori business, our business model is developed in alignment with the Māori holistic model of well-being:

• Te whare tapa whā:

• taha tinana (physical wellbeing)

• taha hinengaro (mental wellbeing)

• taha wairua (spiritual wellbeing)

• taha whānau (family wellbeing)

• Whenua (our connection with the land or environment)

This model of well-being is incorporated into all aspects of our business from the café to the supermarket, from our staff to our Integrative Health Clinic through to our education objectives. We see all parts are interconnected and all parts complete the whole.  Our approach to business is holistic and is the best way to contribute to a better community, world, and Whenua.

SUSTAINABNLE CONSUMPTION

At taste nature, we encourage people to embrace sustainable living as a way of protecting and preserving both our environment and our personal health. Sustainable consumption is a powerful way to support environmental preservation while making deliberate, conscious efforts to choose what’s best for our bodies and nature. Each decision we make in purchasing has an impact on our ecosystem, from avoiding chemicals that pollute and contaminate, to supporting local products that reduce unnecessary waste and lessen the demand on scarce resources.

RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION

Our food selection reflects these values by offering nutritious, low mileage, and chemical-free options that align with the principles of responsible consumption. When you choose Taste Nature’s food, you’re choosing products that avoid harmful additives, preservatives, and flavour enhancers and are made with health and environmental impacts in mind. For eco-conscious and eco-curious individuals, this approach to consumption offers more than immediate benefits to well-being, it actively reduces ecological harm and pollution, helping you feel connected to a larger, supportive community.

OUR CLEANING PRODUCTS

Beyond food, our range of household products includes safe, chemical-free cleaning options, especially for those with skin sensitivities. These are designed to help protect and preserve not just your home but also the planet, supporting an ongoing reduction in household pollution. For long-term environmental stewardship, we offer biodegradable items that minimise waste. To name a few of our reusable products, we have cleaning cloths, brushes, and drinking cups. These products benefit the environment and are a satisfying, cost-effective substitute for single-use items, making sustainability an easily achievable lifestyle choice.

SUSTAINABLE PERSONAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS

Our commitment to sustainability doesn’t stop there. Our personal care items: – soaps, shampoos, and other essentials help limit exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. By choosing safer, eco-friendly products, you can support personal health and environmental preservation, all while reducing our collective footprint. Our products are made to balance health with sustainability, minimising potential health risks and pollution at every step.

OUR SUSTAINABLE COMMITMENT

Taste Nature stands apart with values you can feel good about. Unlike multinational companies focused on profit, we’re guided by ethical, sustainable, and local principles. We aim to motivate you to become an active participant in the shift toward conscious, values-driven consumerism. It’s not just about shopping; it’s about taking part in a movement for grassroots change. when you support community-based, eco-conscious companies, you’re contributing to a shift that minimizes environmental costs and promotes fair trade, and you’re doing your part to safeguard resources for future generations.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

We want to empower you, and our community to see that every small action has a meaningful influence. Together, we can shift the culture from in difference to engaged, deliberate actions that enhance the health of people and our planet alike. So, consider each choice’s potential, and let’s work together to minimize environmental harm, one sustainable purchase at a time.

A socially conscious & ethical business

We don’t exist just to make money. Our values and ethics are to strive to make this world a better place. A socially conscious organisation offers more opportunities and areas for innovation as we use our businesses as a means to solve problems relating to people, communities, the environment, and society. Ethics are our moral obligations including our values; these are the things that are important to us that we use to evaluate actions or events.

We strive for the values of a not-for-profit organisation where we want to give back to the community and environment yet at the same time derive a profitable income from our activities.

Our agenda is to improve the management of people and processes while being consciously aware of our impact on society both economically, environmentally and socially. We must be diligent about being consciously aware of where our products come from, how they are sourced and processed, researching their lifecycle, the activities of the producers or companies who produce the product and how all of the above actions impact on the environment and our communities. While we strive for economic independence and profitability, we are not purely focused on the maximisation of profits.

Taste Nature is both an ethical and socially conscious business.  For these principles to be visible to our customers they must be understood and acted upon by our team.

Set out below is an outline of essential characteristics of our Socially Responsible Business:

1. Purpose – our purpose is what we do and say has a positive and beneficial impact on our environment, employees, producers and communities.

2. Collaboration – we will develop partnerships and will collaborate with likeminded organisations to bring empowerment to our communities and create collective impact for change.

3. Inclusive – we aim to be inclusive in all areas of our business, we will remain mindful and conscious of our decision making, actions and choices to ensure we do not exclude individuals or minorities.

4. Integrity – we must ensure our words, actions, choices, resources and relationships align with our mission and values. We must deliver on what we promise and maintain trust and credibility for our community.

5. Empathy – we care about what matters to our staff, community, customers and supporters. We connect with and understand how other people see the world, how they define their needs and how they view our organisation.

6. Social Justice – when individuals experience discrimination they are denied opportunities that may be essential to their development and their ability to contribute to wider society. We will create opportunities and access for those who might have previously been excluded from these options.

7. Change – we will strive to bring about change to systems, perceptions or habits that do not serve the greater good

8. Product – our products must be fair trade, non-toxic, environmentally sustainable, non GMO, have no toxic chemical intervention and must benefit health and nutrition.

9. Employees – we ensure our employees find value and empowerment by working at Taste Nature – our success is their success. All staff regardless of background, culture, gender and beliefs are treated with respect and as equals.

10. Community – we strive to bring empowerment and enhancement to our communities. Where we can we seek to improve the livelihood of our communities.

11. Profitability – We aim to run a commercially viable business, so we can continue to provide this valuable service to the community and provide jobs.

Our Carbon Footprint 2023/2024