A family-owned solar powered soda factory in sunny Motueka, squeezing fruit from all over Aotearoa – Pete’s Natural award-winning sodas are refreshingly heartwarming.
When crafting Pete’s Natural Sodas, Pete and Marleen (Mrs Pete) Suy’s vision was to create a genuine, healthy drink using the bountiful fruits of Aotearoa. Well, it’s no surprise that these two ‘good sorts’ have done just that and more – winning awards and giving back to the community in the process.
You may have read that in 2023, Maia Bear, the Heart Kids NZ mascot bear, was stolen. When Pete read about this he said to Marleen “what say we buy them a replacement”.
The offer was made to Heart Kids NZ but the company that made the original mascot bear replaced it for them at no cost. Because Marleen and Pete had made a connection with Heart Kids NZ they decided to help them raise some money during the annual Heart Kids NZ appeal week at the end of September.
“We have teamed up with the incredible folks at Heart Kids NZ to lend a hand to families dealing with heart problems,” said Marleen.
“These superheroes have been at it for 40 years, providing unwavering support, info, and hope to heart kids and their whānau so they never feel alone.”
Pete is the flavour wizard at Pete’s Natural Sodas and he came up with a pink lemonade to sell to raise funds for the cause.
Pete’s Natural Pink Lemonade, flavoured with fresh boysenberry juice is the result. The Pink Lemonade was limited to 12,000 bottles and $1 from every bottle sold was donated to Heart Kids NZ.
Marleen says “we have had a great response about the project and it’s something we may repeat in future years. It feels really great to be able to help these young kids with heart issues. Raising $12,000 from sales to our regular customers is amazing.”
It didn’t stop there either, Heart Kids NZ have since been the recipients of two charity Trade Me auctions – our favourite being when the couple asked some local artists to create an artwork that includes a bottle of Pete’s Natural Sodas Pink Lemonade – raising an additional $2,200 via Trade Me. And due to the popularity of the delicious Pink Lemonade, Pete and Marleen have decided to keep it in the range and will be donating 20 cents of each bottle indefinitely!
We owe a huge thanks to Pete, Marleen and the team for being such generous heart heroes.
