Why we do what we do

Kate and I decided to start On Your Plate, after a few ‘over the counter’ discussions at the butcher shop. I was having trouble with a certain other food box coming out of Auckland and their introduction into Hawkes Bay took a lot of my customers away. Kate, meanwhile, was very busy with catering work that really dried up over the winter months, and wanted to keep busy. 

So the idea of a local food box service came about, with Kate using the inspiration of local and in season produce to create delicious meals and I could use my shop to supply the quality fresh free range NZ meat we had built a reputation on. This would enable me to keep the staff at the shop employed, having just gone through tough times with the follow on effects of the infamous water crisis. Kate and I spent a month planning the launch, getting the website built and logos and names decided on, and decided that our first delivery would be the 18th of September. We had a soft launch on Facebook, only inviting friends and family to place orders. I distinctly remember thinking “if we get 20 orders I’ll be stoked, Kate and I can do 10 each and we’ll deliver them”. I couldn’t have been more wrong, with 54 orders placed! Needless to say we were a bit overwhelmed that first week, but we got the job done, have learnt a lot of lessons and have continued to grow. We are now one week away from our milestone, and I couldn’t be happier with how we have progressed. We have now moved from the back of the butcher shop to a much larger purpose built facility, and have employed three awesome staff, Bex, Nicky and Samara, and also a great team of delivery drivers. It’s been a wicked year and I am looking forward to celebrating next week! 

Happy Eating,

- Paul