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Organic, regenerative, spray-free: what each word promises

Some of these words are audited. Some are aspirations. Here's how to tell them apart.

Oliver de Groot, Organic Matters

5 min read · 12 August 2026

Certified organic is the only one of these terms backed by a third-party audit against a written standard. An independent certifier inspects the property, reviews input records and issues a certificate with a number you can check. Synthetic pesticides and fertilisers are prohibited, GMOs are prohibited, animal welfare requirements apply, and there is a three-year conversion period before land qualifies.

Regenerative has no regulated definition in New Zealand. It describes a set of practices — multi-species pasture, minimal tillage, keeping living roots in the soil, integrating animals — aimed at rebuilding soil health. Those practices are genuinely valuable. But because there is no standard, a regenerative farm may still use synthetic herbicides and fertilisers which undermines the entire regenerative system. AND, nobody audits the claim. AsureQuality puts it plainly: there is no consumer guarantee attached to the word.

Regenerative organic is the strongest combination: certified organic as the floor, regenerative practices layered on top. You get the audited absence of synthetic inputs and the active soil-building. Many of the farms on Organic Matters sit here without using a label, check out their page to find out more about them!

Spray-free usually means no pesticides or insecticides were applied to that crop, but it says nothing about herbicides used on the soil (not plants), fertiliser, GMO seed or what happened last season, and it isn't audited. It's often used honestly by small growers who can't justify certification costs — the question to ask is whether they'll show you their records.

Biodynamic (Demeter) Includes all organic requirements plus a whole-farm approach using specific preparations and a planting calendar, certified through Demeter.

Free range, grass-fed and natural are about one attribute or, in the last case, nothing at all. None of them imply organic.

Our rule on Organic Matters: every producer profile states the certification scheme and number, or clearly states that it is uncertified and lists exactly what the grower does. No producer can imply certification they don't hold.