Bon Appetit with Mavis Airey | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Jane Quigley is in business because she's passionate about organics. So what could be more natural than to call her business Jane's Organics? "I'm passionate about putting onto the market place a high quality product to enhance people's health," she says. "If you put out a good product in your own name, you feel really responsible."

She first became interested in organics when she was a breastfeeding counsellor for La Leche League, and lectured on food and nutrition to mothers. "I got to realise the superior value of organic over non organic," she says. "A survey by the Ministry of Health showed the pesticide content of New Zealand food compared with Britain and the USA, and the concentration of pesticides is higher here." The mother of four children, she started growing her own vegetables at home, and making compost. She started selling organic foods from a caravan at markets, then noticed that the organic butcher's shop at the then Big Fresh centre looked as if was going to close down.

"I was a vegetarian at the time but thought it would be such a shame for meat eaters," she says. She took the shop on, adding organic cheeses, eggs and bread. "I learnt a lot about organics and organic suppliers. I loved the feeling that I was really serving the people who were coming in, and supporting them in the changes they needed to make to regain their health." She also started eating a bit of meat. "It tasted so great!" she says. "The taste of organic lamb was the taste of how lamb used to be on the farm when I was a child in Waipara."

The experience made her realise there was a huge potential in supplying organic meat to retail outlets throughout New Zealand. She partnered up with real estate agent Noel Gillman, whom she had known when living in Rangiora. "He came into the shop one day and said he was really interested in organics; I said I was looking for a business partner, and we sat down then and there and discussed it," she says. South Island Gourmet also has a one-third share in Jane's Organics, and she is now based there, sharing the company's staff, packers and administration. Beef and lamb is sourced from certified organic producers ? from Canterbury whenever possible ? and slaughtered at a certified abattoir in Ashburton. Merivale Fresh Choice supermarket in Christchurch is employed on contract to cut the meat up. Jane's Organics processes one cattle beast and 10 lambs a week ? twice the amount she started with last year. "This time next year, we will do five cattle beasts and 30 lambs a week," she says. She would like to expand the range to include chicken and pork, and would be interested in finding someone to grow organic chicken specifically for her.

"There's a huge potential for export," she says. An organic lamb roast makes a great Christmas centrepiece. Serve it hot, or as cold cuts with accompaniments.