Garage Project is an independent brewery based in Aro Valley, Wellington. Founded in 2011 inside an old petrol station, Garage Project brought commercial brewing back to the Wellington city with the lofty goal of changing beer forever. From humble beginnings brewing just 50 litres at a time, the brewery is now one of the largest and revered independent breweries in Australasia.

From it’s earliest days, Garage Project has had a strong connection to Moore Wilson’s - originally as a source for brewing ingredients and flavour inspiration, and now as a valued trade partner. The team brewed together out the front of Fresh on the original 50L pilot system, and later collaborated on a celebration Centennial Ale to toast the Moore Wilson’s 100th anniversary.

Garage Project celebrates it’s own 10th anniversary this year, and aspires to be building a brewery and business with a legacy the likes of Moore Wilson’s. To date the brewery has created over 400 different beers, and counting. From firm favourites like Hāpi Daze, Fugazi and BEER, through to boundary pushing beers like Umami Monster and Mecha Hop.

In 2016, Garage Project opened it’s Wild Workshop site on Marion Street, a home to wild and spontaneously fermented beers. Aged for several years in barrels and blended with local fruits, the Wild Workshop takes it’s inspiration from ancient techniques, brought forward into the modern brewing era.

Garage Project is a credited living wage employer and Carbon Zero Business Operation.

Ant Mackenzie has been involved in the wine industry for over 20 years. During that time he has done pretty much everything - from pruning grape vines to running wineries. His journey has had him working for small, boutique wineries through to some of New Zealand’s largest.

Eight years ago Ant embarked on a venture to produce wines under various creative brands. The best known of which is Theory & Practice, a well-loved emerging brand from Hawke’s Bay. Alongside Theory & Practice there are two series produced under the “Toño” and “Alluviale” labels. Toño being the nickname Ant – Antony was given whilst making wine in Spain and Alluviale coming from the name of the soils that the grapes are grown in for that range.

An exciting new development is a collaboration project called Cognoscente Wine Workshop with long-time friend and wine distributor Jeannine McCallum. These wines are produced with a special focus on harmony and a sensory compatibility with food.

Ant believes each wine within a range contributes to a story or an experience.  Grouping similar wine stories together under different brands gives us a bookshelf of different wine experiences. Much as you like picking different books of the shelf at different times and for different moods he hopes that the same will happen with these series of wines.

So we have Theory & Practice as a Hawke’s Bay regional and varietal story, capturing the flavours of the region and the year by sourcing fruit across the region. Toño is also from Hawke’s Bay but explores the Spanish grape varietals and how they tell a different story of Hawke’s Bay but viewed through another lens. Alluviale is a classic range of blended wines based on the famous five Bordeaux red varieties and the two white varietals. These wines speak of tradition, excellence in the winemaking art and of course the Hawke’s Bay terroir. Finally we have the Cognoscente wines which are made specifically to enhance the sensory experience of eating and spending time with friends.

CoralTree Organics

CoralTree is a Otaki based company producing high quality organic apple cider vinegar. CoralTree Organic orchard exists to bring you quality health-giving food, produced in an ethical system.

CoralTree Organics started in the late ‘80s. It was one of the first commercially certified organic orchards in pip fruit production. By the mid 90’s we were able to run it as a permaculture based orchard with absolutely no toxins entering the production process. By the mid 90’s CoralTree Organics was a registered company, the first in NZ to be producing certified organic Apple Cider Vinegar.

CoralTree Organics is now operating out of a purpose-built processing plant that they designed in sunny Otaki on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand.

CoralTree Apple Cider Vinegar can now be found in our Tory Street Fresh Market.

Black Origin Wagyu

Black Origin, is a Canterbury based company which produces and markets the rich, buttery cuts from Wagyu cattle raised in Canterbury New Zealand. Wagyu beef is widely recognised as the world’s most premium beef famous for its flavour and 'melt-in-your mouth' perfection.

The word 'wagyu' literally means Japanese cow ('wa' meaning Japanese and 'gyu' meaning cow). Wagyu breeds are very carefully selected. Black Origin Wagyu combines ancient Japanese breeding genetics and techniques with New Zealand’s incredible grass, grain, water and air to create world class Wagyu. This combination of cultures with the harmony between Japanese respect and modesty and Kiwi drive is key to ensure they create one of the finest, premium Wagyu products in the world. The purity of Wagyu is determined by genetic origins. Black Origin has maintained both the quality of the breed and the authenticity of its flavour. This increases marbling, makes muscle fibre finer, fat whiter, and gives a nutty and elegant Wagyu aroma and taste.

Black Origin Wagyu can now be found in our Tory Street Fresh Market.

Southward Distilling

Southward Distilling is a local craft distillery on Cuba street in the heart of Wellington producing gin, vodka and soon whiskey.

Southward started as a whiskey fueled dream and led to a passion for distilling, Frankie the founder and distiller, wanted to create spirits that told a story. From the name being inspired by Frankie’s Grandpa’s boat, The Southward Ho, to the still being names after her grandma. It was about taking the idea of sharing a drink with someone you love and the memories that experience can create. Taking an approach to gin that considers different palettes and tastes, Southward is all about experiencing something familiar but a bit different.

Making gins in Kay, their 300L hybrid still, The Mountain Gin is bold and full and made to go with and compliment any tonic whether it be fever tree or Schweppes. Alternatively its sister gin, Wave, is a cocktail style gin that is more classic and dry with a twist of Ecklonia Seaweed used to add that dryness and hint of brine and salt. The Seaweed is even harvested from our south coast after storms when it washes up on the beach.

Each October we make our seasonal release of New Zealand Blood Orange Gin. They hand peel and juice every orange that goes into the gin to give it a beautiful bittersweet flavour.

You can visit Southward inside Heyday Brewery on Cuba Street and even have a flight of their in house gins which rotate seasonally.

They have now started production on Whiskey, but, don’t expect it any time soon. A blend of unique casks and a love of whiskey is sure to fuel something truly special to the Wellington Region.

Alexia Urban Winery

Alexia Urban Winery in Greytown is owned and operated by Jane Cooper and wife Lesley Reidy. Jane makes the wine while Lesley is the cellar hand and general winery dogsbody.

Alexia represents the strength and beauty of their family matriarchy - the quiet, understated women who established their family values and held them together.

The couple built the winery from the ground up with the goal of showcasing a range of new wines, varieties and styles in a setting that allows visitors to experience the whole winemaking process up close.

After years of making wine for others, opening a winery in their home town was an opportunity to make wines that are personal to them, while being rich in character, full of texture, and delicious to drink.

Grapes are sourced from grower partners Julie Collins and Simon Dawson’s Manuka Flats vineyard in West Taratahi, north of Carterton. From there everything is done on-site at Alexia.

The winery produces two wine ranges: Alexia - which includes Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir, and Tangent by Alexia - lo-fi wines made in tiny quantities using varieties not widely grown in New Zealand - Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Gamay.

Alexia is on West Street in Greytown, tucked in behind the lawnmower shop, one street back from the Main Road and is open Fri – Sun between October – March.

Honeysticks

Honeysticks is a New Zealand crayon company best known for their sustainability and use of 100% natural ingredients. Their crayons are made from pure New Zealand beeswax and are suitable for children of all ages.

Honeysticks took off when the world went into lockdown due to COVID-19. As people spent more time at home, Honeysticks started to notice a rise in demand from countries all over the world. They are now one of the top results when you search 'natural crayons' on Amazon.

Honeysticks are very focused on being better for both the planet and for the kids who use their product. They don't use any plastic in the production of their crayons and all their packaging is recyclable and reusable. Although they do not recommend eating their crayons, the ingredients they use meet food grade standards so will not be harmful to your children in anyway.

The beeswax in the crayons gives them a wonderful honey-scent and they are made to be big so they are easier for little children to use and harder for them to break. All Honeysticks' products are made right here in New Zealand.

Dicey Wines

Dicey Wines was started by two brothers in Bannockburn, Central Otago. Bannockburn is not an easy place to grow vines, with the winds, frost, bitter cold & dry heat. The land is unforgiving, and the wines express that struggle.

The two brothers, James and Matt Dicey, have made sure the wines tell a story of the region at the time it was made, the colours on the bottles representing the seasons. The elements needed to craft a Dicey wine are the vineyards plus the heat, rain and wind. The amounts of these vary from year to year, so each year the wines tell a different story of the region. The grapes endure the fury of nature and then are harvested by hand.

Each vineyard is unique. They have three: Swansong, Black Rabbit and Inlet. Swansong is steep - the vines 'clawing their way along the terraces of eroded gravel and clay'. Black Rabbit sits on ancient bedrock with vines nestled into windblown soil. Inlet's vines drape over a terrace of deep river gravel.

The Dicey Pinot Noir has aromas of dark berry, savoury & floral. The Dicey Chenin Blanc has aromas of kumquat, stone fruit and floral. You can find both of these wines in our Wine Beer & Spirits stores and online.

Mahi Wines

The Mahi winery is nestled into the escarpment that goes down a decent length of the Wairau Valley in Marlborough, with two caves going back into the earth to keep the barrels and winery cool.

Started in 2001 by Brian and Nicola Bicknell after they had made wine in various countries the idea was to show the diversity and depth of Marlborough by combining traditional hands-off winemaking techniques with some special vineyards.

Using a lot of hand-picking, whole cluster pressing, seasoned French barrels and natural yeast ferments the aim is to mess with the wines as little as possible so that the vineyards are the heroes.

An example would be the Mahi Chardonnay in which all the fruit from three vineyards is hand-picked before going over the sorting table at the winery. The whole bunches are then put into the press so that the juice does not sit with the skins and this juice goes straight to barrel with high solids, they do not let the juice settle. It is then left to sit and after about eight days the natural yeast from the vineyard do the ferment, adding depth, complexity and texture to the wine. After 11 months the wine is carefully blended and as it has been handled so gently no protein finings are used, so all of their whites are suitable for vegans. The wines are held for six months in bottle so that they are integrated and ready to drink on release.

The Sauvignon Blanc is complex with a small amount of Semillon, 39% wild yeast, 20% barrel and it rests for nine months on yeast lees, again adding texture and length. Made with love it is totally dry and vegan friendly, a Sauvignon with character.

Very much a family company with Max, Nicola and Brian’s son, returning soon after Covid hit from a winery in New York to help in the winery and the markets.

Lewis Farms

Lewis Farms strawberries are grown lovingly in the Horowhenua by Cam and Catherine Lewis. Bounded by the mighty Tararua Ranges to the east and the Tasman Sea to the west, the location of Lewis Farms and the corresponding temperate climate is what sets their produce apart from the rest.

They grow their strawberries in poly-tunnels utilising hydroponic technology, this provides an extended growing season from September to  May – with a small amount into the Winter months. They pick their strawberries daily to ensure they are perfectly ripe with superior flavour.

Their strawberries have a very sweet and intense flavour profile. They grow varieties specifically suited for tunnels and use a carefully tailored fertiliser and organic seaweed programme designed to give the plants precisely what they require for fruiting.

Lewis Farms is also the home of Tendertips Asparagus, which is sold in Moore Wilson's Fresh Markets when in season.

You will find Lewis Farms strawberries in all Fresh Markets.