Here’s more information about the vendors we work with. It’s not complete yet. But I’ll try to continue to update this page and just be honest about who we think we’re dealing with and why we like them. To see vendor’s complete list of products we offer, click on their name on the right side under “Suppliers”.
APOTHECARY
(HOUSEHOLD AND BODY CARE)
GFC member Anne of the Apothecary lives what she believes when it comes to using environment, home and health-safe products. I have learned so much from her website, which she lists at the end of this business description. She has the following to say about her wonderful business:
“At The Apothecary we are devoted to creating wholesome products. We search for simple ways of using edible plants and other naturally occurring ingredients to create products that clean and pamper homes, people, and our world. Only products that are benign in every sense are made at The Apothecary.
“All The Apothecary’s Skincare products are literally good enough to eat. They are made with edible, minimally processed ingredients, as locally and ethically produced as we can get them. Each one is handcrafted to nourish your skin and delight your senses.
The Apothecary’s Spotless Cleaning products clean beautifully without harming you, your home or the environment. They are kind to grey water systems, beneficial to septic tanks and help keep pipes and drains clear. They leave no harmful residues and emit no noxious fumes. On the contrary, they are either fragrance free or scented with therapeutic essential oils. They break down readily into benign substances. All of The Apothecary’s Spotless Household Cleaning products have multiple uses and are safe for sensitive skins.
“We welcome any packaging that you can return to us for reuse, and encourage you to recycle the rest. We are always happy to try and answer any questions or receive any feedback.”
You can contact Anne at anne.spotless@gmail.com or visit our website at www.theapothecary.co.za. The Apothecary has made a host of information available to help get you started experiment with making your own products too at www.spotlessliving.info
COCOAFAIRE
(CHOCOLATE BARS AND PRODUCTS)
Taken from their website:
“Here at CocoaFair we are not just passionate about crafting the best possible chocolate from bean to bar but also to drive sustainable social change in South Africa.
Our Claim: Africa’s first bean to bar chocolate manufacturer founded on the principles of social entrepreneurship.
Being a social business does not mean we are a charity. It means we are a business first but we take full responsibility for how we make our money, the impact we have in our communities and the environment all along the supply chain. We know we are not able to solve the complex social problems plaguing the world and our country but we are very aware of our opportunities to maximize our positive impact and minimize our negative impact. As such we like to know where our cocoa beans come from and therefore buy directly from the producers. This not only enables us to ensure that the beans have been organically grown (not necessarily certified) but that the people involved in the cultivation and care of these products have not been exploited. As such Fair Trade is important for us, but it is equally important that we trade fairly across the entire supply chain.”
Learn more at: www.cocoafair.com/
KOMATI
(ALL KINDS OF PANTRY ITEMS)
Komati is a funky shop in Obz. They aren’t completely on the same page as us with our desire to source things as ethically as possible. But they do make an effort to have locally produced items, they do have some certified organic products, their quality is good, and they are a very nice small company to work with as the GFC. They have accommodated our request to have dry-roasted peanut butter, so that we don’t have support palm-oil production. In some ways, though, they are a stop gap for us while we try to source most-ethically-produced individual items.
NOTE: some of their dried fruit does have sugar and sulphur dioxide added.
LITTLE WOLF
(ALCHOLIC AND NON-ALCOHOLIC CIDERS, TONIC WATER)
Our local microbrewery. Learn more at: littlewolfbrewery.co.za/
MY DAD’S HONEY
(RAW HONEY)
A description from the Debbie and Graham Hill, the owners:
“My Dad’s Honey” is an owner managed bee business situated in Sir Lowry’s Pass Village near Somerset West. We have been operating for the past 27 years and employ a manager and four beekeepers.Its core business is in all aspects of beekeeping and include honey production, pollination services, hive manufacture and bee/wasp removals. ”My Dad’s Honey” currently has in the region of 1200 active hives situated in the winter foraging apiaries in the Walker Bay Fynbos Conservatory which is part of the unique Cape Floral Kingdom. and in the winter-flowering eucalyptus plantations in the Helderberg Basin.
As there is no commercial farming in the fynbos area, fynbos honey can be considered Organic, but is not certified as such. We are a Badger friendly operation and do not supplementary feed or medicate our bees.
All honey produced by “My Dad’s Honey” is from our own hives and is classified as raw. RAW honey differs from the heat treated honey commonly found in large retail stores as it has not been exposed to high temperatures during processing, has not been filtered under pressure and has not been pasteurized. Our honey is extracted using no heat and is filtered under gravity only. As a result, My Dads Honey contains all the natural vitamins, enzymes, powerful antioxidants and other important natural nutrients you will find in comb honey.
MYSTHILL FARMS
(CHEESE, BUTTER, OTHER DAIRY, CHICKEN, FROZEN & DRIED FRUIT, DELI MEAT)
“All our products are grown and processed on MYSTHILL FARM which is situated 20km west of George, at the foothills of the Outeniqua Mountains. Ben and Mark have over 75 years farming experience and pride themselves on being ‘compassionate’ farmers and members of Compassion in World Farming South Africa.
Although our products are not ‘certified’ organic, all our animals are raised as naturally and free as possible. Our dairy cows are grazed on lucern and grass pastures and are milked only once daily so there is no pressure on high production, thus eliminating problems for them such as mastitis. The calves are fed by their mothers during the day and separated at night and reunited with their mothers again after milking the following morning. This carries on until the calves are approximately 9 months old and weaned.
Our chickens, ducks, sheep and pigs are allowed to roam free to forage, feed and enjoy the green grassy paddocks during the day, then safely penned at night to protect them from predators.
Our boutique farm, satisfying the growing desire of our customers for old fashioned ‘farm grown’ dairy and meat products. At MYSTHILL FARM we are constantly expanding our range in response to customer requests, and supply a growing number of markets and farmstalls. “
All of Mysthill’s products are made with RAW milk. Mark of Mysthill has sent a recent vet certificate, and will do so and answer any questions should the we wish. He also wrote to us in September 2016: “We also run a closed herd and know where every drop of milk comes from. There have also been no cases of CA reported in our immediate area.”
Mark and Ben are very good about replacing the odd items that come sub-standard. However, with regard to the unsalted butter, yogurt, cream, and milk, i.e. their ‘softer’ dairy products: If you order these items, we won’t be asking for refunds unless it is obvious on their delivery that they are off. It is my experience that their goods go off more quickly than their stated expiration dates.
They also source sundried tomatoes, frozen berries, and specialty deli meats from neighbouring producers.
Mysthill and glass jars on deposit: Mark of Mysthill has said, “In our efforts to become more ecologically friendly,we are transferring as much of our packaging to returnable glass.I know it creates alot of extra admin,but other customers are very happy with the feedback thus far.” For the following items there will be a R8 deposit charged, which can be deducted from your invoice the following month when you return the jars.
Mysthill is selling Mastro Dario cold meats. Here’s a write-up I found about them:
Mastro Dario the ‘Salami Maestro’. When nine years ago Dario Soresi and Bruno Battaini started to experiment the production of salami here in South Africa they soon realized that the real problem was going to be the nature of the very changeable climate with hot days happening in every season, which could be a real cause of salami going bad. The most economical route would have been that of adding poisonous Nitrites, which is widely used, but Mastro Dario chose to make Salami without Nitrite or preserving liquids that give a smoked taste! It’s better to have salami that don’t appear deep red in color and are made with no poisons! Our Salami matures for months, in special cold rooms wrapped their own natural yeasts getting slowly that special taste! The genuine taste of times gone by….
The meat used is from a farm here in George ‘Van Rensburg Meat’, a high quality closed-circuit farm where pigs are born and slaughtered, with no hormones, antibiotics, diseases and stress from transport, which causes adrenalin surges in the meats that alter its’ taste, color and tenderness!
SANTA ANNAS
(FLOUR, CORN CHIPS)
Their flour is very good quality stone ground flour made with heirloom wheat seeds. Their chips and tortillas are made from organic, non-GMO corn.
Learn more at: santaannas.co.za
SON OF A BUTCHER
(MEAT)
I’ve come to believe that while he is MUCH better than buying from any of our supermarkets (and I have a direct quote from someone I have come to trust saying exactly that), his meat supply is not quite as ethical as we would wish.
Sometimes Salvin buys whole sides of beef and butchers them himself; and sometimes he buys cuts directly straight in, i.e. supplying meat rather than acting as butcher. He seems to buy from a variety of places. I think for some of the meat he buys, he buys from another broker — meaning, sometimes we are two middlemen away from the farms we are buying from. If we aren’t buying directly from a farm, then I think there should be only one middleman, not two or more.
As I said, we are definitely on the right track buying from Salvin. But there isn’t enough traceability for every bit of meat we buy from him, so in the next couple of month we’ll be looking at new meat suppliers, who offers more traceability and is wiling to offer us wholesale prices.
SUGARBIRD CORNER
(FERMENTED PRODUCTS)
“Sugarbird Corner started out of the need in our family to find alternative and affordable means of keeping our family well and healthy. We believe in our body as a temple so we aim to preserve and look after, especially our precious, busy children’s lives.
“We aren’t only concerned about our own lives but also about our community and environment therefore we aim only to use recycled glass and mainly try to source from businesses we believe have the same concern as we do. Occasionally we do use fruits and veg from the food lovers market, but generally we get a weekly veggie box from another home business. The sauerkraut, through careful preparation and naturally fermenting a cabbage is turned into a probiotic powerhouse and a huge dose of vitamin C! Such a delicious addition to just about every meal.
“Our kombucha is a refreshing and naturally fizzy, probiotic rich drink fermented using black (five roses), rooibos (Carmen organic rooibos) and hibiscus tea (currently using leaves brought to us from Egypt), brown sugar (necessary to feed the culture) and a kombucha SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), then beautifully flavoured with seasonal fruits and herb right out of our garden.
The Wine People
(WINE)
The Wine People are distributors for Stellar wines. Stellar Winery has wine ranges out which they have developed in collaboration with two NGO’s. Their Dig This! label is a collaboration with Greenpop – an NGO which Greenpop plants trees and invites everyone to join their “treevolution”. Their No House Wine is a collaboration with HomePlan. HomePlan works to help people without means to buy homes. These new wines seem to be very reasonably priced.
Learn more at: stellarorganics.co.za/