Our Journey:
Formed around 2020 in response to the Western Bay of Plenty District Council Long Term Plan consultation, the Te Puke Maketū Kai Resilience group comprises a diverse range of individuals, community organisations, iwi providers, businesses, local authorities, and others. The group sought first to understand community aspirations around food and collaborated with The Hub and Tauranga City Council to engage Poutiri Trust to consult with the community of the Western Bay of Plenty to formulate a plan for the wider region (‘Mana Kai Mana Ora – Western Bay of Plenty Food Sovereignty & Security Plan’). This is an incredible road map with the vision that by 2030 the Western Bay of Plenty will be ‘a kai secure and well-connected community’.
The group, which operates in the Te Puke and Maketū wards, began working hard on localised community aspirations for this rohe.
In 2024, the group had made headway, and a desire grew to revisit the strategy to acknowledge progress made and food-system learnings through the pandemic. A food systems expert, Emily King, was engaged to work with the community to build on the foundation of Mana Kai Mana Ora for a strategy for the next 5-10 years. This engagement resulted in the Te Puke Maketū Food Resilience Strategy 2025.
Current Initiatives
Te Puke Mobile Farmer's Market.
Fresh local food. Connected communities. Stronger food resilience.
By combining online ordering with local collection hubs, we’re making it easier for people to buy directly from local growers and makers while reducing barriers for producers.
Help Shape Better Food Access in Our Community
We’re gathering feedback to better understand food access, affordability, and community needs across Te Puke and surrounding areas.
Food Forest
Coming Soon
Past Projects
Wilde Weeds Workshops
Linda-Mary from Wilde Magic has delivered a series of Wilde Weed workshops for Te Maketū Kai Resilience Group, sharing her knowledge of safe and sustainable foraging while teaching participants how to make immunity tinctures, herbal teas, crackers, and dips from wild edible plants.
Pukehina Chaos Garden
The Pukehina Chaos Garden is a community-led education project that gives tamariki hands-on experience in growing food, caring for the environment, and learning through practical activities.
Giggles Te Puke Māra kai
The vision behind the Giggles Garden Project, from owner Shona, was to help ensure vulnerable children have access to fresh, healthy kai while strengthening community connections.
Te Puke Community Gardens
COLAB and the Te Puke Makeū Kai Resilience Group have supported the growth of the Te Puke Community Gardens. The Community Gardens have hosted several activities in support of COLAB events, including the Kids Kai Trail.
Cooking Classes
There have been a variety of cooking classes run over the past few years, including Pasta making, sourdough bread, and Indian food, as well as participating in the Everybite National Food Waste Reduction workshop. runn in collaboration with Envriohub
Community Events
Supported by COLAB and the Kai Resilience Group, we've been able to deliver a range of community events that promote education around growing and sharing kai. These have included participating in the Flavours of Plenty Festival and hosting our Summer in the Park series, which was created in response to the need to provide nutritious food and engaging activities for tamariki during the summer school holidays.
