HealthPost plants rimu at Milnthorpe
The planting crew at Milnthorpe, Peter Butler is on the far right. Photo: Supplied.
It’s been just over 20 years since natural supplement company HealthPost started in Collingwood. Since then it has established itself as New Zealand’s leading online discount supplement retailer, and now employs 15 locals, also making it one of Collingwood area’s leading employers.
On 24 July, HealthPost staff took the step of planting 500 rimu trees in Milnthorpe Park to help mitigate their company’s carbon footprint.
“Courier vans making multiple deliveries are probably more carbon-efficient than individuals driving to their local health shop,” explained director Peter Butler. “But we’re working towards calculating and cancelling our entire carbon footprint. This year’s rimu planting is just the first small step. Milnthorpe Park is a fantastic community asset. Many of us use its tracks and beach. But this planting day was not just about carbon, it’s also about doing something different as a team and having a few drinks afterwards.”
Milnthorpe Park manager Dick Nicholls used the opportunity to demonstrate how to dig good planting holes, and how to pack the soil firmly back around the plants to avoid air pockets that could make conditions too soggy or too dry.
A desire to access affordable barley grass for a chronic health condition was Linley Butler’s initial motivation for setting up HealthPost in 1988. She began ordering it in bulk and sharing it out around the community. As demand steadily grew for this and other health supplements, Linley employed her friend Di Potter to help, and then Di’s friend Sandy Cawldron. For many years HealthPost remained a three-woman operation. With the advent of online shopping, the business began skyrocketing and now their relatively new premises is bursting at the seams.
Explains Peter: “People like to be able to compare products at leisure in our catalogue or online, then have them delivered the next day and still save money. The business has outgrown its current premises and we’ve been having difficulty finding suitably zoned land for expansion. It would be a shame if we have to take the business to Nelson or Auckland, as the Collingwood location gives the business its unique flavour and provides valuable high-tech jobs for the area. It continues to be based in Golden Bay, because, basically, everyone likes living there.”
Many of the staff work an unconventional week to accommodate other interests and passions; the mixed blessing of a mail order business is the ability to arrange odd hours. With the help of couriers, HealthPost can get goods to almost anywhere in New Zealand the following day. The company may be in the back of beyond, but they take it as testimony to their convenience and competitive prices that they receive many orders from people in the Auckland CBD.
It also now delivers to Australia, Korea, Taiwan, the UK, China and many other countries. The company relishes the opportunity to promote New Zealand products worldwide, and is especially proud of the natural skincare ranges now on offer including Living Nature, Trilogy and Antipodes. Natural health is a notoriously faddish market, but HealthPost has never been about the quick fix.
The launch of HealthPost’s new e-commerce system and accompanying new website marks a significant milestone for the company. Lest this cause alarm for the many loyal customers who appreciate the personal service currently provided, it intends staying firmly down-to-earth, and callers will continue to get a real person on the other end of the phone. To make things easier for Takaka residents, Golden Bay Organics remains the pickup spot for orders phoned in to HealthPost the day before.
If people want to see the baby rimu grove planted, it is adjacent to the track called “Round the Mountain”. As part of HealthPost’s ongoing sponsorship of Milnthorpe Park, it will be printing the track’s maps.
