EcoBay Philosophy

 

The EcoBay Philosophy

 


At EcoBay Fresh Market, we’re trying to do something simple and rare:


Fresh, genuinely good food. Honest prices. Zero supermarket nonsense.


We’re a local, independent grocer in the Sumner / Ferrymead community – with a bit of Strong efficiency and Fun personality, done the EcoBay way.

 

 

 

1. How We Treat Our Customers

 


We stand behind everything we sell.

 

  • If something you buy from us isn’t fresh enough, doesn’t last how it should, or just isn’t right, we want to know.

  • Bring it back (or message us with clear photos) and we’ll review it and make it right – usually with a refund or replacement, no drama.

  • We default to believing you. We’d rather fix one grey-area refund than have a customer feel ignored.

 


We try to make shopping feel easy, not stressful.

 

  • Clear prices, clear signage, and friendly staff you can actually talk to.

  • No loyalty cards, gimmicks or hoops to jump through to get a fair price.

  • If you’re not sure which tomato or apple to pick, we’ll help you choose – and we’ll be honest.

 

 

1.5. Calls & Messages (How to Contact Us)

 


We’re a small, hands-on team and we spend most of our time out on the floor looking after customers and fresh food – not sitting in an office.


Because of that, we don’t reliably answer the phone.


Instead, the best way to reach us is:

 

  • Message us on Facebook or Instagram, or

  • Email us (for anything detailed, refunds, or product questions).

 


This lets us:

 

  • Reply properly (with photos, links, and details if needed), and

  • Keep serving customers in-store without constantly dropping everything for calls.

 


If you do ring and don’t get through, you haven’t done anything wrong – we genuinely just run the store this way on purpose. Drop us a message and we’ll come back to you as soon as we can.

 

 

 

 

2. Our Pricing Philosophy

 


We’re not the cheapest in New Zealand, and we’re not trying to be fancy for the sake of it.

We aim for value-premium:

 

Value Items:

Everyday essentials like bananas, onions, basic tomatoes, etc. are priced sharp and consistent. We want you to feel, “I can do my regular shop here and not get stung.”

  • Specialty & seasonal:

    For premium or short-season lines (e.g. berries, cherries, asparagus, heirloom tomatoes), we pay for quality and freshness and price them honestly with a fair margin.

  • No games:

    We don’t mark it up to mark it down. If something’s on special, it’s because:

     

    • We got a good buy and want to pass it on, or

    • It’s getting closer to its best and we’d rather you enjoy it than bin it.

     

 


If the price looks sharp, it’s because we’ve worked the supply, not because there’s a catch.

 

 

 

3. Freshness & Quality

 


Fresh is everything.

 

  • We receive fresh produce deliveries 7 days a week.

  • We choose suppliers because of reliability and quality, not just who’s cheapest on the day.

  • We pull stock that doesn’t meet our standard, even if it costs us in the short term.

 


If we wouldn’t buy it ourselves, we don’t put it out.

 

  • Staff are trained to check:

     

    • Colour, firmness, smell, and visible defects.

    • Shelf-life expectations – especially for berries, beans, mushrooms, leafy greens, and bakery.

     

  • If something is borderline, it’s either:

     

    • Marked down clearly, or

    • Taken off sale.

     

 

 

 

 

4. Our Service Code (How We Run the Place)

 


We run EcoBay like a serious business and a small local shop at the same time.


Our team is allowed to solve problems.

 

  • Staff are encouraged to:

     

    • Use common sense.

    • Be generous within reason.

    • Ask a supervisor if something feels bigger than a simple fix.

     

  • We’d rather a staff member slightly “over-refund” than make a good customer feel awkward.

 


We keep things simple and efficient.

 

  • We care a lot about:

     

    • Accurate pricing at the shelf and at the till.

    • Fast, friendly checkout.

    • Full, tidy displays that still feel like a market, not a warehouse.

     

 


If you ever see something that doesn’t look right – an empty bay, a wrong price, or a product you think we should stock – we genuinely want the feedback.

 

 

 

5. Our Team

 


EcoBay is run by real people who live and work locally, not a distant head office.


We ask our team to:

 

  • Be friendly, proactive, and honest with customers.

  • Take pride in the displays and handle the food with care.

  • Treat each other with respect – no bad attitudes, no dramas in front of customers.

 


In return, we aim to:

 

  • Pay fairly and reward responsibility.

  • Train people properly so they can grow into bigger roles.

  • Create a workplace that feels like a team, not just a roster.

 

 

 

 

6. Waste, Sustainability & Responsibility

 


We hate waste – both financially and ethically.

 

  • We plan ordering carefully to balance full displays with minimal throw-out.

  • Where we can, we:

     

    • Mark down short-dated products clearly.

    • Redirect suitable food away from the bin wherever possible.

     

  • We prefer simple, recyclable or minimal packaging where it makes sense, especially for produce.

 


We’re not perfect, but we take responsibility seriously and we’re always improving our systems.

 

 

 

7. Community

 


EcoBay exists because of the local community, not the other way around.


We aim to:

 

  • Be a reliable everyday shop for the people who live and work around Sumner / Ferrymead.

  • Support local producers and New Zealand-grown wherever we can.

  • Be approachable – if you’ve got ideas, requests, or feedback, we’d rather hear it directly.

 

 

 

 

8. If Something’s Not Right

 


If you ever:

 

  • Have a bad experience,

  • Find a quality issue,

  • Notice a price mismatch,

  • Or feel we’ve fallen short of this philosophy,

 


please talk to us:

 

  • Come and see the team in-store, or

  • Message us with details and photos.

 


We’ll take it seriously, fix what we can immediately, and use it to improve how we run EcoBay.