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The label on a punnet is doing a lot of work and not all of it is honest. This is which words are audited, which are aspirations, and what the evidence does and does not say.

Three systems, side by side

Regenerative farming does real good and this table is not an attack on it. The difference that matters to a shopper is the fourth row: one of these columns has somebody independent checking, and the other two do not.

The longer answers

Every one ends with its sources. Where the evidence is thin we say so in the piece rather than in a footnote.

Every word on the label

7 of these 18 terms are backed by somebody independent checking. The rest are descriptions, some of them useful and honestly meant, none of them audited.

Certified organicAudited

Audited annually by an independent certifier against a written standard. No synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, no GMOs, animal welfare requirements, and a conversion period of about three years before produce can be sold as organic. Comes with a certificate number you can check. BioGro — certification ↗

MPI operator approvalAudited

New Zealand's organic claims are moving onto a statutory footing under the Organic Products and Production Act 2023. Operators making organic claims will need approval from the Ministry for Primary Industries by March 2028. Until then, certification by a recognised certifier is what stands behind the word, and this is the change to watch. MPI — changes to organic products law ↗

In conversionAudited

The land is being farmed to organic standards but has not finished the transition — commonly three years, and shorter for some livestock and annual crops. Produce cannot be sold as organic yet. These producers are carrying the cost of organics without the price, and they are worth supporting. AsureQuality — gaining organic certification ↗

RegenerativeNot audited

A farmer-led movement focused on rebuilding soil health: multi-species pasture, minimal tillage, living roots year round, animals integrated with cropping. Genuinely valuable practices — but no regulated definition and no third-party audit, so a regenerative farm may still use synthetic herbicides and fertilisers.

Regenerative organicAudited

Certified organic — the audited floor — plus regenerative practice, which is the active soil building on top of it. The strongest combination available, and the only one where both halves of the claim have somebody behind them.

Biodynamic / DemeterAudited

Everything organic certification requires, plus a whole-farm approach using specific field and compost preparations and a planting calendar. Certified by Demeter, the oldest organic certification scheme in the world. In New Zealand the Bio Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association is the body behind it.

Spray-freeNot audited

No pesticides applied to this crop. Says nothing about fertilisers, GMO seed, or what happened in previous seasons, and nobody audits it. Used honestly by a great many small producers — the useful thing to do is ask to see their input records, and anybody farming the way they say will be pleased you asked.

Chemical freeNot audited

Not a technical term, since everything is chemicals including water. In practice it usually means no synthetic pesticides or fertilisers. Unaudited unless it sits beside a certification that is.

Free rangeNot audited

The animals have outdoor access. That is one welfare attribute and it is the only thing the words cover: the feed may be conventional and treated, and the land may be sprayed. Not organic, and not a claim about the food.

Grass fed / pasture raisedNot audited

Describes what the animal ate, not what went on the land. A grass-fed animal can graze pasture treated with synthetic nitrogen and herbicide, and often does.

GE / GMO freeAudited

There is no commercial production of GE food crops in New Zealand, and organic certification prohibits GMOs outright. The law here is being rewritten — the Gene Technology Bill would end the long-standing restriction and set up a dedicated regulator — so the ground under this claim is moving. Organic certification remains the strongest available guarantee, because it is a standard somebody audits rather than a claim a seller makes. MBIE — gene technology regulation ↗

Food milesNot audited

How far the food travelled. A weak proxy for footprint — how something was produced usually matters far more than how it moved. Useful beside other information and misleading on its own.

KaitiakitangaNot audited

Guardianship and protection of the natural world, held as an intergenerational responsibility. Many Māori producers frame their practice through kaitiakitanga rather than through certification language — the standards often follow the tikanga rather than the other way round.

Certificate numberAudited

The reference a certifier issues to a certified operation. It is the thing that makes the claim checkable: the certifier publishes a register, and the number is how you find the farm in it. A producer using the word "organic" without one is making a description rather than a certified claim.

NaturalNot audited

Means nothing in particular. There is no standard behind it, no audit, and no agreed definition — arsenic is natural and so is botulism. On a food label it is a marketing word, and it is worth reading whatever sits beside it instead.

SustainableNot audited

Describes an intention rather than a practice, and nobody checks it. Some sustainability schemes are rigorous and audited; the bare word on a label is not one of them. Ask what specifically is being sustained, and how anybody would know.

Low spray / IPMNot audited

Integrated Pest Management: monitoring pests and spraying only when a threshold is crossed, rather than on a calendar. A real discipline that genuinely reduces chemical use, and a considerable step from conventional practice. It permits synthetic pesticides, and it is not audited unless it sits inside a scheme that audits it.

Carbon neutral / zero carbonNot audited

Emissions measured and then balanced, usually by buying offsets. The measuring may be rigorous and the offsets may be worthless, and the label does not distinguish. Says nothing at all about pesticides, soil, or animal welfare.

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