The Hub Te Puke has become the first collection point in the Western Bay for a national initiative aimed at making fresh fruit and veg more accessible.

Foodtogether is a social enterprise that has brought together community groups and organisations to make it easy and convenient to access wholesale fresh fruit and vegetables.

It works by buying on the open market, with a philosophy of “best bang for your buck” while also securing the freshest produce available.

The Hub will be the drop-off point for the bulk produce, the place where it is packed into individual boxes, and the collection point.

While the idea is to make fresh produce as affordable as possible, there are also other spin-off benefits of community connection and encouraging more fresh produce consumption with the associated health benefits.

Three different-sized boxes are available, costing $20, $30 or $40 each. Orders are made online at the Foodtogether website, and the first Te Puke collections took place last week.

The Hub Te Puke general manager Scott Nicolson said the initiative helped families that might otherwise struggle to afford fresh produce but differs from The Hubs other crisis or relief food provision services.

“[We started looking] probably post-Covid, in terms of finding a way to provide affordable and nutritious food into the community.”

He says he had been looking at different models and different ways of achieving that goal.

“Then when I came across Foodtogether, it was a no-brainer. They’ve got the platform; they’ve got the distribution and sources.

“It’s outside that food relief space, but it is providing a more affordable option for people to actually connect with fresh produce.”

The Hub’s relationship with the Western Bay of Plenty Kai Resilience Group led to the breakthrough.

Outgoing group co-ordinator Amy Board said one of the benefits of Foodtogether was a consistent supply of food.

“A lot of food boxes fold or local food co-ops fold because they can’t source the food consistently or through winter, whereas, because Foodtogether is a national programme, they can guarantee top quality food all year round.”

She said she was aware that the Hub was looking at ways of making it easier for the local community to access fresh produce when she met someone from a community centre where the initiative was working.

“They spoke really highly about how much it has been helping the community and how well it’s been going. I looked more into it and thought this is going to be the best option.”

There were widespread benefits of the initiative open to everyone.

“I think we see a whole group of people who are struggling to buy food at the supermarket, but then they don’t qualify to access the foodbank or don’t want to access the foodbank. There’s a whole portion of our community who fit into that category – this is for them but this is also for everyone.”

Once weekly orders pass 100, there are benefits to The Hub in terms of extra boxes that can be distributed into the community.

“The more people who buy, the better the programme’s going to be.”

Broad said the hope was that the service would spread across the Western Bay from the Te Puke initiative.

Incoming kai resilience co-ordinator Emma van der Molan said there was a lot of potential in the initiative and having the backing of Foodtogether meant there was less risk for local groups who might want to get involved.

She said people from a street or a neighbourhood could potentially organise themselves so one person collects several boxes for neighbours.

“In terms of the broader kai resilience network, it just seems like an easy way to get more fresh fruit and vegetables to more people and enabling people that do have the means to support those who don’t, once it gets to that [100 box] threshold.”

She said the message would be spread through social media and future Kai Resilience Network meetings and she encouraged people to get involved.

Nicolson said more volunteers were always welcome to help packing the boxes on a Friday morning.

“It would be nice to have a team of volunteers to make the packing faster or to allow people to go on a roster.”

Box collection is from lunchtime each Friday from The Hub Te Puke on Jocelyn St.