Raglan milk delivery bridging the urban rural divide
A high-end Auckland eatery is singing the praises of a boutique dairy company that hand delivers milk in glass bottles.
Dreamview Creamery owner Jess Hill said her Raglan produced milk is enjoyed in high end Auckland eateries such as Paris Butter in Herne Bay.
Hill is passionate about connecting rural and urban New Zealand.
“We have had chefs come out to visit us on the farm and they see we are one big family.”
Head chef Zennon Wijlens said Paris Butter have been incorporating Dreamview milk into their dishes for about a year.
“I get to try a lot of new products, but very few stop me in my tracks and make me say wow. We use it because it is, without a doubt, the best dairy in New Zealand.”
Dreamview recently held a public event organised by Pamu’s (Landcorp) Open Farms initiative. Pamu chief executive Mark Leslie said farmers are embedded in their local communities and enjoy showing the public what they do.
“These community engagement events strengthen rural and urban connections.”
Hill said the open day was a fun event showing people around her farm and visitors were genuinely interested in seeing how farms operate.
“A lot of people I spoke to enjoyed visiting open farms in previous years. Dreamview has been running for seven years and deliver to 150 Hamilton customers every day.
“By receiving a bottle of milk on their doorstep customers feel a connection to the animals and the farm.”
Rather than a great divide, Massey University’s Janet Reid said their Diverse Experience of Farming study found more complex perceptions about farming. The study explored attitudes towards farming in New Zealand and challenged the pervasive idea of the rural-urban divide.
“There are diverse views of farming across urban, rural and farming communities. But we all agree that the benefits of food and jobs that farming provides are valuable for New Zealand," she said.
Reid said they surveyed and interviewed over 1300 urban and rural New Zealanders asking what they valued, what were their concerns and what was an example of a good connection.
Half of the urban respondents identified supermarkets as their key source of information about farming.
“The majority of people buy their food through supermarkets, but people want to connect on a personal level.”
Dreamview has been running for seven years and deliver as far as Auckland, Tauranga, Ngaruawahia and Te Awamutu.
Back in Herne Bay, Wijlens doesn’t think much of the rural-urban divide concept.
“As someone who lives in the city, I love getting out to rural areas such as the Waikato.
“I think a lack of education about where our amazing produce comes from contributes to any perceived divide.”