A guiding concept that underpins the OrganicFarmNZ certification process is the idea that organic certification can serve as both as a tool for ensuring the organic integrity of products being sold in the NZ market place and that the certification process can provide a mechanism through which individuals can be drawn together to cooperate to enhance the overall well being of their communities.

The key principles underlining OrganicFarmNZ are:

• Low cost - make organic certification affordable.
• Trust - a belief that farmers can be trusted to peer review one another.
• Develop organics for the local market (OFNZ produce cannot be exported)
• Support small-scale production - through making certification affordable and creating support networks.
• Support bio-regionalism, reduce 'food miles' and reconnect growers & consumers.

The anticipated benefits of the establishment of OrganicFarmNZ are:

• To assist small growers to move towards certified organic production;
• To support the development of local and regional groups of people interested in organic production.
• To provide these groups with the necessary training and technical support to undertake auditing for group certification purposes; and
• Thereby, to respond to the problem small growers have faced in becoming certified as organic due to the costs of individual certification