story & culture
who are we?
When we were raising our 4 children we were always frustrated that the only “family-friendly” places to dine served horribly unhealthy food under their golden arches, we used to dream of having a wholefood cafe where our energetic kids wouldn’t disturb other diners or be made to feel unwelcome.
We couldn’t find one so we created one. With a vision to nourish our people, our community, and our planet…..
TOAD Hall Motueka was born.
TOAD Hall has become one of New Zealand’s most-loved cafes. We offer fresh healthy food delivered with our genuine human warmth we like to think of it as hospitality with heart and soul.
We do things “Old School” around here, we grow lots of the produce we serve and sell right here onsite in our large organic market garden whilst also valuing our local growers and producers in order to trade fairly with them and, in turn, bringing you the freshest, healthiest local fruit and veges, berries, artisan food products and meals to enjoy.
Built in the 1850's T.O.A.D Hall was the original school house at the first-ever school built in Motueka. The building was later donated to the Salvation Army by early settler Dr. Greenwood and used as their Sunday School Hall for over 100 years. At some stage, during that time it was traded with St Thomas's church and relocated to become their Sunday School Hall.
In 1998 the hall was re-located from its home at St Thomas's Anglican Church to where it sits today, Hence its name The Old Anglican Diocesan Hall(T.O.A.D Hall)
It is important that every decision we make nourishes our people, nourishes our community, and nourishes our planet. Not only nourishing in the sense of nutritionally but in the sense of personal growth, long-term investment in people & community is what is dear to our hearts.
We follow strict recycling procedures where ultimately we become a zero-waste business, we have co-creative staff, and are working towards fully sustainable business practices. Using Solar to produce the majority of our electrical needs, Growing much of our produce needs, composting all of our food scraps, only using recyclable & compostable packaging, encouraging 4 day work weeks & having honest conversations regarding mental health and well being.
HOSPITALITY WITH SOUL
OUR VISION & COMMITMENT
Being a cafe in a small, vibrant community; we’ve long strived to make people feel valued and heard. Hospitality exists when people feel you are on their side, but it can only fully exist when all people feel like they belong. It takes an engaged culture of diversity and inclusion to ensure that all stakeholders feel like they have a seat at our table.
We have a lot of work to do and much more to learn, but with our collective commitment to make positive progress, we will more fully express and live our values:
We are committed to being a welcoming and inclusive workplace without bias towards gender, race, sexuality, religion, political beliefs, age, abilities or disabilities, and socioeconomic status.
We have the belief that for a community to thrive all members of that community need to feel a sense of belonging, purpose, and acceptance regardless of their past, a bit like the cliche of when the water rises all the boats rise too. We consciously select staff to support this vision and invest in young and unskilled people to give them qualifications, skills, and personal development along with a rich challenging hospitality journey that opens many career opportunities for them.
The Soul in our business also runs through to the customer service and products that we offer. We will not serve anything to our customers that we wouldn’t serve to our children. All products in our store are produced in an ethically sustainable manner, often by someone that we have a personal relationship with.
We believe good deeds should be done with intention not for attention….so that’s enough said.