Our Suppliers

At Bellbird we are passionate about keeping things local and wholesome. That's why we source our ingredients meticulously.

As much as possible we prioritise buying local and organic when available. It’s much easier to make a good product if you’ve got good ingredients to start with, and in Canterbury we are blessed with both variety and quality.

We also take pride in using traditional baking techniques and long fermentation processes to bring you the most delicious baked goods in town.

Our Flour

Most of our breads contain a mixture of organic wholewheat flour and white flour. All of the flour we use is certified NZ Grown Grains.

The wholewheat flour we use is organic (BioGro certified). The rye flour, rye flakes and barley flakes (used in our Porridge Sourdough) are additionally Demeter (Biodynamic) certified. These are grown by Milmore Downs in North Canterbury. If you are after a 100% organic loaf, go for the Rye Sourdough.

The white flour we use is grown in South Canterbury and milled at Farmers Mill in Timaru. Our pastries are made with Mauri Snowflake pastry flour. Both are certified NZ Grown Grains, meaning the grain is grown and harvested right here in New Zealand.

Most of our breads contain a mixture of organic wholewheat flour and spray-free white flour.

Our white bread and pastry flour is grown and milled in Canterbury and is floate free. We proudly used New Zealand grown grains since we started on recently formalised that choice by getting NZ grown grains accredited.

Our Eggs

We get our eggs from Nutritional Farm, a small business owned and operated by couple Gretha and Paddy. Their farm is located in Dunsandel, between Christchurch and Ashburton.

The hens are raised according to “pastured” standards. This means the animals live on pasture and roam freely. At night they roost in portable sheds.

Compared to conventional or free-range farming, pastured hens forage and eat bugs all day long and are able to express their natural behaviours, such as pecking and scratching. No pesticides or synthetic fertilisers are sprayed on Nutritional Farm. This diet and freedom directly translate to eggs of superior nutritional quality.

Our CHOCOLATE

We source our chocolate from Weave Cacao, an Aotearoa-based company that works directly with cocoa farmers in Papua New Guinea.

They craft the chocolate in PNG itself, which is a rare thing in this world where most of the cacao is traded as a commodity. The folks at Weave are committed to leading the way with a sustainable ethical supply chain, transparency in pricing and long-term partnerships.

We are proud to support Weave in their mission to making a real impact for Pacific cacao growers. You can taste their amazing 70% dark chocolate in our Pain au Chocolat, Walnut & Salted Caramel Brownie and any other seasonal product containing chocolate.

Our SUGAR

We are proud to source our sugar from Trade Aid, a social enterprise founded in Christchurch in 1973 on the philosophy of fairness in trade. Trade Aid challenges the usual, conventional way of doing business by paying decent wages to small-scale farmers. This enables them to support their families and better protect their environment by growing crops organically.

We use two types of sugar in our baking:

Organic golden sugar – Produced entirely without chemicals, this organic, unbleached sugar retains a thin covering layer of cane juice on the crystals for a unique golden colour and delicate caramel flavour. This sugar is made by the Manduvira cooperative in Southern Paraguay. Some small-scale farmers invested in their own processing plant to gain more of the value from their sugarcane. This was a true small-farmer revolution that has created change in the community through investment in sustainability initiatives, community healthcare and employment programmes for youth.

Organic muscovado sugar – Moist, rich and unrefined, this sugar features smoky, fruity, toffee notes. It is made in northern Peru by small-scale farmers and retains the nutritional value of whole molasses. It is a key ingredient in our world-famous Almond Croissant!

Our WALNUTS

Our walnuts come from Trickett’s Grove, a co-operative of around 45 walnut growers mostly from Canterbury.
Their philosophy is to grow walnut trees using as little intervention as possible. Some of the orchards are certified organic and they all limit the use of sprays, preferring to prune, feed and water instead.

As with most foods, fresh is best for walnut quality. The walnut shell is nature’s airtight container and protects the kernels from air and light. Unlike imported walnuts which are cracked months before they reach New Zealand, Trickett’s Grove walnuts are cracked just in time for delivery at the Tricketts Road facilities in West Melton.
This just-in-time approach means that the walnuts we get as a customer are fresh, highly nutritious and full of flavour.

We use generous amounts of Trickett’s Grove walnuts in our Walnut Sourdough and our Walnut & Salted Caramel Brownie.

Our VEGGIES

We get our vegetables from Untamed Earth, a certified organic market garden dedicated to nourishing both the land and the Ōtautahi community.

Run by passionate farmers Penny, Ollie, and Isaac, they grow over 40 kinds of fruit, vegetables and herbs on 60 acres using regenerative and sustainable farming practices. Untamed Earth’s produce is always fresh, seasonal and high quality. They sell their vegetables at farmers’ markets, organic stores, Christchurch’s top cafés and in their Beckenham farm shop. They also offer a customisable veggie box!

We love using their vegetables in our sandwiches: it encourages us to keep them seasonal!

Our MILK

We source our whole milk from Farm Fresh South, a family-owned and operated dairy farm in Southland.

Logan and Melissa are passionate about offering their customers the tastiest and most nutritious milk. That means looking after their animals and land, avoiding the use of fertilisers and following organic practices.

Farm Fresh South milk is whole and non-homogenised (cream top). Nothing is added or taken away. The milk is delivered to us in large reusable pails (for bulk bakery use) and 1L glass bottles (for retail use). We just rinse the containers and return them. We love such business models that don’t rely on single-use plastic packaging.

Our MEAT

We proudly source our meat from Traiteur European Butchery, a renowned Christchurch business with European roots.

Founded in 1992 by Maarten and Anthea, Traiteur has thrived for over three decades thanks to their dedication to quality and community.

Located in Merivale, Traiteur has earned a loyal following for its authentic European-style deli and butchery. Their selection features high-quality meats and smallgoods, with ingredients sourced from trusted local farmers as well as carefully chosen international suppliers. They also provide fine wines, cheeses, catering and a takeaway menu.

You can enjoy their smallgoods in our sandwiches made fresh every day.