Forget what you know about grocery shopping. Step into a new way at GoodFor in Grey Lynn.
The experience at their newest establishment is unlike any other grocery store or supermarket. For its eighth wholefood refillery in Aotearoa, it has become an experiential and meditative process.
As you step inside, a convenient wayfinding sign is there to help guide you to what you need. You’re then invited to indulge in the ritual of cleansing your hands in the bespoke steel basin before embarking thoughtfully through each station to grind, mill, fill and pour a catered range of organic household and pantry items.
Within the refined space you’ll find coffee and tea dispensaries featuring local rosters Ozone, Supreme and L’affare varieties to name a few. There’s a pancake and waffle station with organic mixes and Canadian maple syrups to pour, a flour mill, as well as their considered range of grains, spices, baking ingredients and more. All of which are free to taste and buy for home, without packages.
For the home, there’s a fast and mess-free tap-operated liquid refillery for your kitchen and bathroom cleaning products and wash-up refills, which is a separate tap station to where you’ll find cooking necessities like olive oil and speciality vinegar.
The homewares station features cookbooks, utensils, cast iron cookware, ceramics, market bags and a dedicated gift-wrapping station that is free for use. Adjacent, there’s a glass-encased chocolaterie with sweets to treat yourself or someone special.
Among beloved producers found at GoodFor like Ceres Organics, Ecostore and Wild Wheat specialty bread, you’ll also find local artisans such as Gemmayze St Hummus and Berkelo organic sourdough pasta. GoodFor also crafts its own organic products, with their organic almond butter featuring a decent amount of Marlborough flaky sea salt a must try.
As always, you can BYO vessels or opt for GoodFor’s branded range and multi-purpose Weck jars alongside compostable snaplock and paper bags.
Organic zero-waste model
Founders James Denton and Georgie Hendl’s first store opened in Ponsonby back in 2017. Their organic and zero-waste model runs parallel with the refillery’s conscious consumer philosophy.
“We began with the philosophy of providing people with the ability to eliminate all the unnecessary plastic packaging out of their shopping habits. As the journey has unfolded, we have learned that our customers come for much more than plastic-free shopping. They come for the wholefoods, the organics, the community feeling and the relaxed low advertising experience. Alternative to the supermarkets, which are designed to sell as many products to you as possible, we are excited at the opportunity to positively impact people’s lives and ultimately create a better food system one GoodFor store and one community at a time.”
Their latest store is the ultimate minimalist answer to restocking the pantry, tapping into a conscious-yet-practical journey, rather than ticking off a chore on the to-do list. It strips away any trace of influential packaging and promotional material, affording the senses room to breathe rather than being overstimulated.
Denton says this is the brand’s next generation, pushing the reusable, buy-what-you-need space to a new level.
“To create a thriving community that engages in refilling and buying organics, the standard of the store environment needs to be world-class. We wanted to create an architectural space that was sleek and inviting like a home kitchen, yet practical like a bakery or ceramic studio. We think that’s what it takes to bring a large audience into the refilling mindset.”
The concept has some perception around being expensive, but Denton says that’s ill-informed.
“People spend a lot more in supermarkets on things that they don’t want. Setting up your kitchen to cater for refilling is rewarding in so many ways… You get familiar with what jars and bottles hold what and it dramatically clears the clutter in your kitchen. Ultimately it ends up lowering your grocery bill as you only buy what you need and you also eat a lot healthier. It’s really important for our communities’ health and our environment’s health that we heavily reduce our waste footprint and purchase organically grown food. We are on a mission to make doing just that enjoyable and we think at scale, a huge cultural shift could occur!”
