Ceres Organics

Yes. Ceres Organics is a New Zealand company that has been supplying organic food for more than 40 years, and it runs as a social enterprise that puts social and environmental outcomes ahead of profit. Many of its products carry B Corp certification.

Ceres also distribute other organic brands here, including Mitoku miso, Pureharvest soy milk, Oqua coconut water and Hiltona prunes. Those are listed under their own brand names rather than on this page.

Look for the BioGro logo on the pack. BioGro is New Zealand's main organic certifier, and Ceres Organics products carry certification number 4310.

Certification is audited by a third party and traces the product from the farm to the store. Ceres also ban more than 700 synthetic chemicals and additives and prohibit GE ingredients and processes.

Wherever the crop grows best. The pea chips, raw wholefood bars, oaty bars, fudgy bites and tomato sauce are made in New Zealand, and the apple cider vinegar is New Zealand produce. Beans and tomatoes come from Italy, rice crackers and cakes from Thailand, nori from South Korea, tamari and miso from Japan, gluten-free pasta from Bolivia, Dijon from France, corn and peas from Hungary, pineapple from Sri Lanka, and the herbal teas are packed in the UK. Every product page lists its origin.

Where a product has several ingredients or sources, Ceres state where it was made and that it uses imported ingredients. They will confirm the exact origin if you give them the batch number from the pack.

Yes. The canned beans, lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, pineapple, coconut milk and coconut cream are packed in cans with a BPA-free lining, and each product page says so under certification.

The rice crackers, rice cakes, corn cakes, Crispy Rice Clouds, chickpea crisps, coconut bites and coconut wafer rolls all carry a gluten-free claim, and so does the seaweed.

The pea chips do not: they carry a may-contain warning for gluten and wheat. The oaty bars and steel cut oats contain gluten. The coconut bites and wafer rolls are gluten free but contain egg, so they are not vegan.

The raw wholefood bars and fudgy bites are out, because they are made from almonds and cashews. The pea chips, chickpea crisps, brown rice crackers, rice cakes and corn cakes are made without nuts and carry no tree nut or peanut warning.

The oaty bars and Crispy Rice Clouds are nut-free recipes but are made on equipment that also handles tree nuts. If your school is nut free or you are managing an allergy, read the allergen line on the pack, or ask us.

Because there is nothing in it to stop it. Ceres coconut milk and cream are coconut and water only, with no gums, thickeners or emulsifiers, so the fat rises and can set firm when it is cold.

Shake the can or warm it gently and stir, and it comes back together. The flavour and quality are unaffected.

Tamari is a Japanese soy sauce made without wheat, so it is gluten free, and Ceres ferment theirs for up to six months in wooden casks. It tastes like a rich, rounded soy sauce.

Coconut aminos is made from fermented coconut blossom sap instead of soy. It is milder and a little sweeter, and it suits anyone avoiding soy, or following a paleo diet.

Yes. The Night Time, Lemon & Ginger, Peppermint and Pure Ginger teas are made entirely from herbs, flowers, roots and fruit, with no tea leaf, so there is no caffeine in them.

The matcha powder is different: it is ground green tea leaf and does contain caffeine, about a third of the caffeine of coffee, according to Ceres.