In 2020, with Covid travel restrictions winding down, we took what we learnt about ourselves & didn't hesitate to leave the rat race of Auckland in search of a fresh chapter. Jumping into a campervan, we began our Kiwi tiki-tour from top to bottom, looking for the perfect new place to settle down & plant our new roots.
We knew Ashburton's reputation as a successful farming area and were charmed by the the beautiful township and warm, welcoming culture of the people. We loved that the town was continually bustling & retained the good kiwi values we'd both grown up with... people still offer a friendly smile & greeting as they were going about life, and we were hooked.
As we kept travelling, Ashburton wouldn't let us go & happily settled into our new life here in 2021.
The PlantBased Pantry & Cafe was an idea born of our own challenges restocking our campervan cupboards. 100% of the products we stock at the Pantry and Cafe are vegan, containing no animal ingredients.
The creation of our store began in August 2024, with our doors opening on East Street, Ashburton on 11th January 2025.
Our goal was to create a shopping haven of 100% plantbased products that caters to the needs of locals, visitors, and holiday makers passing through the Ashburton Area. Today, we are proud to be the #1 South Island destination offering a fully vegan Grocery Store and Cafe.
We are dedicated to offering you the best local, national and international vegan products that are free from animal testing and contain no animal-based ingredients.
We are proud to offer plantbased foods to meet the diverse needs of our customers, including a robust range of Gluten Free choices, both on our Grocery and Cafe selection.
Our ranges is continually expanding and if you are after Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Organic, Eco Friendly, Sustainable products, we are keen to work with you!
We (like you) are committed to animal welfare. and are looking at ways to help sustain and enhance New Zealand's clean green image. We have been looking at options of how we can help offset our carbon footprint and have recently joined the "Trees That Count" program. Details of how we will be doing this will be updated as this evolves, so together we can all make a difference.
It's very important to us, and we know it's important to you, that no animals are harmed to create the food, health, beauty and home products that are a part of our lives, and we have made it easy for you to shop in one place with total confidence.
We are not a deli, organic store or health-food store that also stocks animal-based items. When you shop with us, you can rest assured you have shopped with a 100% Vegan, 100% Kiwi business.
We are always available to help you with your choices and would be delighted to hear from you if you have comments, recipes, products or suggestions.
Garry & Tony
