Cultivating Community-Centric Food Systems

In the evolving landscape of the food industry within our Byron Shire, a paradigm shift towards sustainability and collaboration is essential. As consumers increasingly seek healthy, ethically sourced products, wholefood stores such as Santos Organics (SO) have a unique opportunity to not only meet these demands but also to catalyse positive change within our community.

At SO, Andrew Haig (Purchasing and Business Development Manager) sells ingredients to many local Byron Shire businesses, including Puremelt, Rice Culture, Spice Palace, Knox and Aya, Flora Foods, Baraka, Sol Ghee, Sprout Lovers and Conscious Ground, who in turn sell their products back to the store. “We believe this symbiotic relationship fosters a sustainable food ecosystem with far-reaching benefits for all involved”, says Andrew.

At the heart of this concept lies the principle of circularity, wherein resources are kept in use for as long as possible, thereby minimising waste and maximising value. By selling ingredients to local businesses, SO also extends the life cycle of their products, creating a closed-loop system that promotes resource efficiency and reduces environmental impact.

From the perspective of local businesses purchasing ingredients from SO, the advantages are equally compelling. By sourcing ethical, high-quality, organic ingredients from a trusted local supplier, they can differentiate their products in an increasingly competitive market and appeal to discerning consumers who prioritise health and sustainability.

“I have always supported Santos Organics and wanted to buy organic and as local as possible. I can get ethically sourced cacao and coconut sugar from a local distributor; and I know and trust that all I buy at Santos is ethically sourced”, says Sarah Wheeler, owner of Puremelt Chocolate.

And Tomoko Onuki from Rice Culture says:

“We have been purchasing organic rice and other ingredients from Santos Organics for 10 years now and we cannot be more thankful! Santos found us when we were selling miso at the farmers’ market and supported us to go to the next step by purchasing our miso and supplying us with the rice.

Through the years, Australia has gone through a number of droughts where we had difficulties sourcing Australian organic rice but Santos Organics has always supported us by sharing their precious stock with us.

Andrew has always been very considerate and transparent with the pricing as well.”

We feel blessed that we had the fortune to work with Santos Organics as our supplier and customer and hope we can continue with our relationship in the next decade!”

The mutual benefits of this symbiotic relationship extend beyond economic considerations; they also encompass environmental and social dimensions. By SO supporting local businesses and vice versa, we can truly say that this type of relationship fosters a resilient community that is able to provide for each other while minimising the environmental impact of food production and consumption.