Climate and Natural Resources Create the Perfect Recipe for Pete’s Natural Sodas in a can

Nelson’s climate and natural resources make it the perfect region to produce outstanding drinks everyone can enjoy, alcohol-free drinks that are better for you.

The orchard fruit production in the wider region provides an abundant source of fresh fruits that can be transformed into delicious juices. From Tasman Bay juices to drink and their famous Juicies to enjoy frozen, or maybe freshly pressed cherry juices from Eden Orchards that are packed with goodness, including melatonin to help you sleep. There are many wonderful juices and beverages made in the Nelson Tasman region.

Chia Sisters have made a range of healthy drinks for many years and added drinks with functional benefits to their range a little while ago. As well as wanting to produce drinks that are much healthier than ubiquitous fizzy drinks, something that has always been an important part of the sister’s business is sustainability. From a solar powered factory to a recent move to using cans for some of their drinks, sustainability has always been important to them.

Another business that has recently made the move selling tasty drinks in cans is Pete’s Natural Sodas. A couple of weeks ago we went to the launch of the new canning line at Pete’s Motueka production facility, and it’s surprising how many cans they can fill each day using such a compact, New Zealand designed and manufactured piece of clever machinery.

When running to near capacity the folk at Pete’s can fill and package about 5000 cans of soda a day, and that’s a lot of sodas for a small business to produce. They currently have sparkling water, lemonade, kola and feijoa lemonade available in cans.

When I went to the launch of the canning line Pete and Marleen told me there are many reasons for investing in the canning machine; firstly, it means they can be sold at public events like concerts and sporting events, places where glass bottles can’t be used. “They are also really good to take to the beach or river because they don’t break like glass can” says Marleen.

The other big impact is environmental. The cans are endlessly recyclable, are much lighter, so are cheaper and more environmentally friendly to freight around the country. “Lighter cans are also much more user friendly in the factory, we don’t have to be worried about glass bottles breaking and they are much easier for us to move. There may only be 12 bottles in a standard carton of drinks but when you lift 1000 cartons a day you certainly notice the difference”.

Something else that struck me when I tasted some of the product was the quality. Pete’s Natural sodas have been a staple in our fridge over summer so there’s always something on hand for kids and non-alcohol drinkers to enjoy. However, I wondered why anyone would buy sparkling water when you can turn on a tap and get safe drinking water. Well, the answer is one of the reasons all Pete’s Natural Sodas are so good, it’s a well!

Pete’s have a well on their property that they draw artesian water from. They filter it to make sure it meets food safety standards and then use it to manufacture their drinks. This water hasn’t been treated with UV, chorine or any other standard water treatment used in council water supplies. You can taste the difference, Pete’s Natural Sodas sparkling water is clean and fresh. It just tastes really good, which is something that may seem strange to say about water.

Marleen says they have one customer in Auckland who buys a couple of cases regularly “because it’s the only sparkling water her husband will drink”.

The cans are slightly smaller in size than the bottles, that you can also still get if you prefer, but that is also reflected in the price. Cans are cheaper than bottles to produce and ship, add that to the smaller size and the cans are noticeably cheaper than bottles of delicious Pete’s Natural Sodas.

Canned drinks also take up less space in the fridge so make sure you keep an eye out for canned drink products from both Pete’s Natural Sodas and Chia Sisters, they are hitting the shelves in your local store about now.

Published in the Nelson Mail 01-03-2025