Shopping with Certainty

A look at why shops are becoming certified organic, and what it means in practice. Learning from Christchurch retailer, Liberty Market.

In 2003 while grocery shopping, Ernest Tsao came across an organic shop for sale. Having not long completed an MBA and taking it easy as he considered his choices, this business seemed like a good way to make an honest living while doing something he believed in.

Early days

As luck would have it, the lease ran out and the landlord didn’t renew so the sale fell through, but Ernest couldn’t let the concept go. A few months later he, and his cousin Lucy, leased an 80-square-metre site in Beckenham and started a small organic shop from scratch: Seven Fields Organic.

“Everything organic was so ridiculously expensive then,” he said. “I felt someone should change that.”

On the first day they did $120 in sales. They remained at that level for a long time, but once sales began to grow, the business expanded quickly and they outgrew their tiny shop. In 2008, Seven Fields moved to their current 900-square-metre Moorhouse Avenue site, and rebranded as Liberty Market. In the early days of Seven Fields Organic, Ernest and Lucy set up an online sales platform which supplied customers as far away as Gore, but it proved non-viable and these days they focus on their local customers.

Why become certified organic?

Today Ernest can brag to his old uni friends that he runs an organic shop, but there are challenges. Chief among them is the perpetual need to educate people about the benefits of a certified organic store and the differences between certified and uncertified shops.

In New Zealand we don’t yet have regulation about the use of the term ‘organic’, although the Ministry for Primary Industries has been consulting on this in 2018 and will continue the process in 2019. In the meantime producers can say a product is organic when it may not be at all – or may contain only some organic ingredients. This can lead to confusion and differing perceptions.

Liberty Market became certified because Ernest believed it was the right thing to do. “Before running my own shop I always wondered about the truthfulness of the organic status claimed by the various shops from which I bought my food, and I was sure I wasn’t alone.”

What does it mean for customers?

Liberty Market is certified by AsureQuality. It was an easy choice when at the time most other certification schemes were tailored for producers and didn’t cater for retail stores.

Being a certified organic retailer means Liberty Market’s claims of organic status for products they sell have been independently verified. Auditors check their fresh produce, bulk and repacked foods, and bakery products packaged under their brand name, as well as their unpackaged bakery products. Packaged products produced by other manufacturers usually have their own organic certification logos proving the manufacturers have certification.

When a Liberty Market label states ‘certified organic apples’, it means they have proved the apples are certified organic, from the orchard all the way to the customer’s hands without any gaps in between. This provides an extra level of assurance for customers that when Liberty Market claims a product is certified organic, it’s not just a claim they make to improve sales.

As an example, the shop purchases many tonnes of apples every season from local and distant growers and wholesalers. They ask the seller for a copy of their current organic certificate, and for the seller’s invoices to clearly state the quantity and variety of apples dispatched. They then display the apples in store with a tag showing the price and an OG1 status, which is how Liberty Market denotes the highest certified organic level of trustworthiness. If a grower fails to supply a current certificate, the store’s tag displays OG3 status, indicating the product is not certified (they had an OG2 status too but this is no longer used in the shop).

A peek behind the scenes

Another requirement of certification is for products to be clearly labelled and stored separately so they can’t become mixed with a different status product. Ernest and Lucy also keep accurate records of purchases and sales for the auditors, who always check that sales quantities match the purchased amounts of every product.

“Our customers obviously appreciate our efforts in becoming certified and bringing them peace of mind,” says Ernest, “because they’ve voted with their wallets.”

The AsureQuality certification process was clear, and Ernest says the standards were communicated well. There are annual – and surprise – audits, but these aren’t arduous. As an early certification adopter, Liberty Market was happy to be involved in the consultation processes that helped shape and improve organic standards.

Very little change was needed for Liberty Market to meet certification requirements. “We already kept good records and labelled our products honestly, and we were using eco-friendly cleaning products and non-toxic pest control methods.”

Unshakeable loyalty

Many loyal customers have shopped with Liberty Market since the early days, and Ernest recalls the very kind customers who showed up after the 2011 Canterbury Earthquake and volunteered to help them clean up.

“We didn’t have enough brooms and mops, and most of the time we had more customers than staff cleaning up the store. We all chowed on canned beans and soup for lunch together. It was a humbling experience, and one I will remember for the rest of my life.”

Today there is an organic option for virtually everything, including one best used for activities between sheets. It’s just one of 8000 products the store carries while maintaining its basic business policy: great variety and affordable prices.

Taking stock: where to now?

December marks the tenth anniversary of the move from their tiny Beckenham Street site and the renaming of the business as Liberty Market.

Ernest sees organic enterprise continuing to increase. When big multinationals are jumping into organics, he says, it means it’s a big enough pie for them to want a slice. Ernest and Lucy want Liberty Market to be a force for good, not a vehicle for accumulating wealth. They sponsor two local children’s charities and donate to several smaller community groups.

“We want to increase our charitable giving from the current $5000 a year to a more substantial level,” says Ernest. “That means we’ll have to grow much more. My hope is to add more good causes we can support, and to continue helping people to eat healthy while doing it.”

Liberty Market at a glance

• Year founded: 2004 as Seven Fields Organic; rebranded in 2008 as Liberty Market
• Year certified: 2005 (AsureQuality)
• Location: 493–495 Moorhouse Ave, Christchurch
• Shop hours: Mon–Sat 9 am – 6 pm, Sun 10 am – 3 pm

libertymarketnz.com

First published in Organic NZ Magazine, Jan/Feb 2019 Vol.78 No.1

http: //www.organicnz.org.nz