Words VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN | Images BRYDIE THOMPSON
Five minutes off state Highway 29 and you’ll find yourself in the beautiful McLarens Falls Park. No matter what time of year you visit, the majestic trees and stunning reflections on the lake provide a serene setting to reconnect with nature.
Set inside the park is a bustling cafe which is not capitalising on their setting but adding to and caring for it. Run by the Campbell ladies, mum, Miranda heads the kitchen while daughters Harriet and Alice are in charge of creating the decadent desserts and essential coffees respectively.
The family trio have spent just over nine years turning around what once was a very run-down cafe. A decade ago, with just a dirt driveway and long drop loos it was, as Miranda describes it, “a hidden jewel, which was kept well hidden”.
As the Campbell ladies have worked hard to build a solid business, they have also toiled away looking for ways to reduce their environmental impact. Their first initiative, and it was a bold one, was to remove fish from their menu. “We didn’t want to support mass trawlers,” says Alice. You won’t find the cafe staple of fish n’ chips on the menu at Falls Cafe, but you will find hearty home-made pies and sausage rolls paired with house-made relishes along with favourites like eggs Benedict and a supersized big brekkie. And if you have room there is an array of delicious sweet treats all made by hand on the premises.
The bold move to remove fish from the menu got the family thinking about other ingredients on the menu and ways of doing things that could make a difference. Alice says they started to ask, “is it sustainable, is it ethical?”
Having grown up on a farm, animals and animal welfare have always been important to the family. “The idea of a pig living in a crate is abhorrent,” says Miranda, and so it was natural their next big move was to switch to free range bacon and now all their pork, chicken and eggs are free range. Such decisions may not seem that big except when you add the complexities of ordering and supply as well as the implications such decisions make on the bottom line. Miranda says the help from Naked Meats in Te Puna has been essential.
Next it was a war on plastic packaging. Harriet says they would have regular clean ups down by the lake and were horrified to see the amount of rubbish that may have come from the cafe. Plastic straws and takeaway cutlery were replaced with bamboo versions. Butter, sugar, salt and pepper sachets were banned, and tea bags were replaced with loose leaf tea.
The drinks fridge was purged of plastic bottles, yet Alice says they couldn’t find an economical option for bottled water. Not deterred, and knowing customers, especially those travelling through, would want water to takeaway, she came up with the idea to recycle the glass bottles. Used Phoenix juice bottles are sterilised, filled with fresh water and sold for $1. Or of course the team will gladly fill your drink bottle for free.
Encouraging people to bring their own cup has been a challenge, considering many of the cafe goers are visitors. Those with keep cups would get a discount but Alice says, “People don’t care about the price when it’s for convenience.” So now those with keep cups continue to get a discount, and those wanting a takeaway cup get a surcharge. It’s a fine balance notes Harriet. “We still have to have a viable business, and this means giving people what they want.
So they have found plenty of other ways to reduce their impact behind the scenes. Milk bottles have been replaced with 10 litre bladders and this equates to a saving of over 1500 milk bottles a year, or 90% less plastic. “We’re not the busiest cafe in town either,” says Alice, “so imagine what others could save if they made the switch!” Unlike cafes in town, this change also comes with added work as they have to drive into town at least twice a week to pick up the milk.
Food waste is kept to a minimum and what is created is taken to the animal park. Courtesy of Andy’s (Dad’s) ingenuity, waste oil from the fryer is used to fire their boiler at home. Tea leaves and coffee grounds go into the garden and you can bet that’s not the end of the initiatives.
Miranda says their determination to continue to improve and to solve problems keeps them thinking and moving. And when they do get a chance to stop, they get to appreciate the beautiful environment they are part of. Along with the many ducks, including one Harriet hand reared, there is the resident tui, often seen in the kōwhai tree right beside the cafe. There is a mama thrush that arrives the same time each year wanting food to take home to her chicks. And native kaka are returning. Last count there were five of these precious birds.
So next time you take a stroll in McLarens Falls Park to appreciate the beauty of nature, ensure you stop into the cafe to appreciate their efforts too.
Don’t Feed the Ducks Bread
Did you know bread goes straight through ducks? This means they become malnourished and the lake fills up with algae. If you want to feed the ducks, pop inside the cafe and buy some duck food (or kibbled maize).
