Photo: RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
As well as growing organic grapes for his boutique Terrace Edge brand, Waipara Valley viticulturist Pete Chapman has another wine label on the go and all the profits from it go to an organisation that works with survivors of human trafficking.
The Terrace Edge vineyard is perched over the south bank of the Waipara River in North Canterbury.
"We bought the land in 1999 and it has always been a family project … it started as a weekend hobby and gradually got completely out of control, but now it's a fully-fledged business," Pete says.
Thirteen-and-a-half hectares of land produce Terrace Edge's albarino, pinot gris, pinot noir, riesling, syrah and rose wines.
However three years ago Pete and his wife Alanna created another brand.
It's a social enterprise wine called 27 Seconds. Most of the grapes for it are grown at the Terrace Edge vineyard.
"There's a crazy stat from UNICEF that somewhere in the world a child, every 27 seconds, is sold or trafficked into slavery and we were really moved by that and just wanted to do something".
And they have. With each bottle of 27 Second wine sold, 100 percent of the profit is given to Hagar, an NGO which provides recovery care to survivors of slavery, trafficking and severe abuse in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Vietnam.
"It's been fantastic to combine two of my passions I guess, making nice wine and yeah, trying to help the people that really need it."
So far the project has raised $25,000 and with demand for the wine exceeding expectations, Pete expects to be able to give another, similar-sized donation.
"We see it as a really sustainable model, not every business has to be creating profits for shareholders, you know, it can be doing something else with that money," Pete says.
