HealthPost might be the new kid on the B Corp community block, but this family-run business has been blazing trails in the ethical wellness space since 1988.
Before your delivery arrives at your door (in recyclable packaging of course), HealthPost’s naturopaths have already done the leg work, making sure each brand aligns with their (and your) social and environmental standards. So you can enjoy browsing their virtual aisles with ease, and without feeling the need to look over your shoulder for sneaky greenwashing slogans. Their online store is even equipped with a handy Shop Your Way filter to help customers shop by their values. Offering feel-good convenience, they are here to test any notion that shopping mindfully is a chore.
From humble beginnings, HealthPost’s origin story begins with founder Linley Butler, who started selling barley grass to friends and family. Today, HealthPost offers more than 6,000 wellness products, has donated $1.3 million to community causes, and has planted 15,000+ trees in Mohua Golden Bay, Aotearoa New Zealand – the rural coastal town they have called home from day one.
HealthPost’s positive impact stretches well beyond customer homes to their backyards too. The HealthPost Nature Trust initiative was created to restore biodiversity in the local area. So far through this program they’ve established 3 hectares of predator-proof ecosanctuary for threatened species, established the Te Whare Whakatā ecological research centre, and have been recognised with commendation as a finalist in the Sustainable Business Awards in 2022 and 2021.
To learn more, we chatted with the HealthPost team about their impressive initiatives, their journey to becoming a Certified B Corporation, and what they’d like to see become the norm for business as we work towards a better future for people and planet.
Image: HealthPost
Can you tell us a little about HealthPost and what your B Corp does?
HealthPost is an online ethical wellness retailer – we’re proud to be Aotearoa New Zealand’s home of healthy living.
With a growing range of mindfully selected health products, supplements, skincare, eco living products, family wellness, as well as nourishing food and drink – we offer 6000+ natural wellness products from 350+ bestselling brands.
We have a vision to have a positive, lasting difference on people and planet and we aim to deliver on this every day.
As a leading ethical wellness retailer, we feel a strong commitment to make a meaningful impact. We do this through responsibly sourcing products that share our values, upholding ethical integrity in our supply chain, investing in regeneration through the HealthPost Nature Trust, offsetting our carbon emissions, and maintaining rigorous independent product standards for quality, efficacy, and transparency in our industry.
We’re 100% Kiwi-family owned and have been based in the beautiful Mohua Golden Bay (top of the South Island) since 1988. Our rural location keeps us deeply connected to our community – and we feel an immense responsibility to give back to the land that has served us so well all these years.
Making mindful, healthy choices easier is our daily mission – and through our Mindful Brands, Shop Your Way filters, as well as our Ethical by Nature Promise, we’ll keep doing just that. And have wellness delivered right to your door.
The wellbeing of Aotearoa New Zealand families and the land they call home has been a priority from day one for HealthPost. Why was it important to you to go on this journey to become a Certified B Corporation?
Becoming Certified B Corporation has always been a goal for us. Our vision guides us to make decisions that go beyond profit, and caring for people and planet has always been at our heart.
While we were proud to already be doing our bit, we recognised the importance of credible measurement, verification, and certification.
Like other B Corps, we envision a better economic system where businesses can benefit people, communities, and the planet. We choose long-term investments over quick wins, and measure our success based on the positive impact we create.
Becoming a Certified B Corporation was a natural progression on our sustainability journey for the benefit of our whole community.
Additionally, for ethically-minded consumers, shopping by their values has never been more important, but these days it can be challenging to recognise meaningful sustainable action.
That’s why becoming a B Corp was a must for us – a globally recognised certification to make ethical choices easier, and to guide our business choices every day.
Image: HealthPost
Your impact stretches so far beyond the products stacked on your (virtual) shelves. Can you tell us about some of HealthPost’s initiatives?
Here are four key areas where we’ve made a positive impact, guided by our values of people, transparency, mindful materials, and nature.
- Responsibly sourced products: Through our Ethical by Nature Promise we strive to maintain New Zealand’s most rigorous independent product standards within the wellness industry for quality, ethical integrity, and transparency. Our naturopaths check every new product before it goes on our shelves to check it meets our ‘ETHICS’ values: Eco-friendly, Transparent, Holistic, Ingredient Integrity, Caring, and Sustainable. If you can find it in our store, you know it meets our rigorous standards. We’re also proud to partner with a growing range of B Corps too, including the likes of BioBalance, Weleda, Chia Sisters, Ethique, and many others.
- Offsetting carbon emissions: We offset our carbon emissions through New Zealand native forests, including our very own 10.6 hectare block of regenerating Indigenous carbon forest. With our Zero Carbon status through Ekos and robust footprint measurement, we’re also transitioning to carbon reduction measures.
- Regenerating nature: Together in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Manawhenua ki Mohua we’re investing in regeneration and restoration of biodiversity through our HealthPost Nature Trust. We’ve established a 3-hectare predator-proof ecosanctuary for threatened flora and fauna to thrive – including introducing 100s of threatened seabirds.
- Giving Back: Supporting our community is at the heart of our vision. Over the years we’ve donated $1.5 million to social and environmental causes, including the HealthPost Nature Trust.
We’re just getting started. Becoming a Certified B Corporation is an important milestone on our sustainability journey, and we’re not stopping here.
HealthPost has been in the game for a long time, an incredible 35 years! Over that time you would have seen both the wellness and ecommerce movements transform from niche to norm. Moving forward, what business practice would you like to see become the norm?
As the largest employer in our small rural community, we’re naturally connected to the broader impact of the decisions we make every day. We’re also family-owned so we’re free to use our judgement when deciding what matters alongside, or more than, profit for shareholders.
We’d love to see stakeholder governance become the norm, with businesses making more holistic decisions and measuring their success in wider terms. We’re proud to be part of a movement that champions this change and provides a legal pathway to make it possible!
Image: HealthPost
Tell us about the B Corps that inspire you?
Every B Corp is an inspiration for us, we’re humbled to be in good company with this growing global community of trailblazers.
We look for inspiration from the likes of big organisations that lead with purpose, like Patagonia and All Birds, as well as smaller, local B Corps we’re proud to stock on our shelves such as BioBalance, Awwa and Chia Sisters just to name a few. We could go on!
For any businesses looking to certify, what are your words of wisdom?
Working through the impact assessment process and providing evidence to verify your impact is extensive and chunky work, but well worth it!
Stick at it, enjoy the ride and use it as an opportunity to capture key learnings, identify areas for optimisation or creating new processes, policies, and practices that will support ongoing certification.
The evolving high standards of the assessment holds businesses as a force for good accountable and we must continue to raise the bar and follow our roadmaps for continuous improvement. From my experience working in this space, everyone on the B Corp journey embraces the sharing of knowledge!
A big thank you to HealthPost for taking the time to share its journey with us. To find out more and explore their offering visit: www.healthpost.co.nz
