Neil credits his relationships with
the local growers as going a long way
to the success of Everything Good. As
Neil says “we know our local growers
intimately and so we know when
the produce was picked, the growing
methodologies and if something is not
great, we will tell our customers.”
Everything Good has adopted a
user pay system when it comes to
produce bags, As Neil says it is the best
way to discourage people using them
frivolously. “Produce comes in its own
bag, a banana peel, the orange skin, so
there is no need for these items to be
put in a bag.” Customers are charged 15
cents for each bag, but most customers
generally come equipped with their own
bags.
Reducing Waste and being
sustainable are high on the list for
Neil. He boasts having one wheelie
bin of waster per week, as anything
compostable is used to make compost
for his market garden.
Over the years Neil has observed
various changes in peoples buying
habits, among the more obvious ones is
the shift towards plant based foods and
the move away from highly processed
foods, a growing demand for gluten free
foods, and a rejection of GMO foods.
Customers are savvier and look to save
money by buying in bulk. He has also
seen people becoming more diverse in
what they eat and are more inclined to
try new things.
Customers appear to be returning to
basics, enjoying more wholefoods, and
looking to support local produce over
imported products.
I asked Neil his thoughts on what
he predicts will be the next trend in the
health food arena.
“Trends are a funny thing and we try
to avoid buying into them. You can lose
a lot of money if you don’t get off a trend
in time so we rather try to simply run
a consistent ship and quality products
that are tried and tested. So many new
products are just gimmicks and we try to
avoid buying into that.”
I asked Neil where he thought the
natural health sector was heading in the
next couple of years?
“I don’t really have many thoughts
around this, but, with produce being
our main focus, I would love to see
greater support for local producers and
an appreciation of what it takes to get
clean fresh food into your local store
to buy. Grocery is easy, put it on the
shelf and it sells, but produce is hard. It
amazes me that people pay five bucks
for a coffee, but think five bucks for a kg
of apples is expensive. Get real! I’d like
to see fresh produce be valued by the
community appropriately. Fresh produce
is the baseline for health and well being
supported by other products......not the
other way around.”
I asked Neil what changes he would
like to see occur within the Natural
Health and Wellness sector? “
No exaggerated claims to the
health outcomes of various products.
Nutritional panels and ingredients
lists available at the time of wholesale
purchase (particularly for new products
as I would never have bought some if
this information was available at the
time). Appropriate product marketing
without false promises. Increase in
biodegradable packaging and less use
of packaging overall. Increase in plant
based product solutions. Increase in
product delivered from net carbon zero
producers. Focus on Australian products,
small niche producers instead of large
multi-nationals.”
With so much fun and laughter at
Everything Good I was pretty sure I
knew the answer anyway, but I still
asked the question of Neil. What’s the
best thing about your job?
“It’s pretty much a fun gig. We have a
bunch of awesome customers who have
great attitudes about life, the world and
their place in it and we relish in seeing,
talking, laughing, caring for and sharing
stories with them often.”
Spring 2018 39
Winter 2019 39