Our story
Origin Earth is a Te Matau-a-Māui/Hawke's Bay based and owner operated boutique dairy company.
Our Beginnings
Conceived in 2010 by Joanie and Richard Williams, Origin Earth, started life in an ugly tin shed in the industrial end of Hastings. By mid-2012 it had become apparent that the building was rapidly becoming too small. Around that time the factory that was originally built for Te Mata Cheese became available and so Origin Earth moved to its current premises at 393 Te Mata Rd, Havelock North.
“A larger factory meant we could further develop our range of cow and sheep milk dairy products – we are now proud to produce a range of around 30 products, which include fresh milk, pot set yoghurt and a range of cheeses all of which are now sold in our Online Shop and at the Hawke’s Bay Farmers’ Market. .”
From the beginning we have recognised the value of products that have been produced on biologically active soils. Our farmers can verify soil management and on-farm practices throughout their farm systems.
Single Farm Origin Milk
Origin Earth products are unique in that they are all crafted from single farm origin milk and the cow’s milk is sourced from Hawke’s Bay farmers who farm within an hour of the factory.
Single farm origin means that the milk for any one batch of milk, yoghurt or cheese comes from a single farm and herd or flock. Milk from different farms or even from different milking’s is never mixed, making all our products completely traceable. This means we can verify where the raw product was sourced and are able to trace it back to the farm, the paddock and the animals from which the milk come.
Along with all the usual information you would expect to find on a food label our products also include a farm identifier and milk batch number – that’s how we can trace it right back to the animals.
The Origin Earth factory is close to the farmers who supply our milk. Small batches are picked up by our own staff and brought to our Havelock North plant. Once at the factory, milk is immediately crafted into cheese, pot set yoghurt or fresh milk, to ensure it retains all the goodness and taste that farm staff, animals and soil biology, worked so hard to achieve.
Our fresh milk is available to you just hours after the morning milking.
No Origin Earth product is standardised, homogenised or stabilised. They have no emulsifiers, thickeners or milk powders added. What you purchase are products made from milk straight from the animal.
Where We are Now
Origin Earth continues to do what it does best – making Hawke’s Bay dairy products from healthy soils.
In late 2017, to reduce single-use plastic milk bottle waste, we started to offer a Milk Bottle Refill Service. This has now developed into our Swap-a-Bottle service.
Following on from the success of our Milk Bottle Refill Service, in early 2018 we started looking at how we could reduce single-use plastic milk bottle waste for bulk milk users such as cafés, schools and early learning centres. By mid-2018 we were able offer our Hawke’s Bay wholesale customers our Bulk Milk & Waste Reduction Offer and have been thrilled with the positive response from these customers who we call Our Waste Reduction Partners.
We now have a number of retail outlets selling our milk in Hawke’s Bay including New World and Pak ‘n’ Save Supermarkets as well as a number of 4 Squares and other independent retailers. Find your nearest stockist go to our website.
To service our retail customers through the COVID-19 Lockdown we started offering Contactless Delivery to urban Hawke's Bay residents and Contactless Pick-up from Origin Earth. These services allowed customers to purchase milk, yoghurt, cheese and eggs from our Online Shop and have their orders delivered or if they preferred to pick-up from us. The pick-up service also allowed those outside the delivery zone to continue to enjoy our products.
We continue to offer these services to Hawke’s Bay residents many of whom are now ‘Swap-a-Bottle’ customers. We are thrilled with the number of people who have chosen to become ‘Swap-a-Bottle’ customers and in doing so reduce single-use plastic milk bottle waste and receive milk in glass bottles. With our cardboard neck tag we have completely eliminated plastic from this product.
We continue to look at how we can refine and improve these schemes.
Dealing to Plastic Milk Bottles - HDC Newsletter October 2019
Rural Delivery Stories
Over the years TVNZ’s Rural Delivery programme has produced a number of stories about us, our farmers and the biological approach to farming – which is what our farmers do. We have listed these stories below and linked them to the Rural Delivery site where you can either watch or read the story.
Plantation Road Dairies – March 2018
A Biological Approach to Improving Soils – May 2014
Gunson Sheep Milking – May 2014
Origin Earth Cheese & Yoghurt – August 2011
Armitage Biological Dairy – June 2010