The Daily Goods is a little eatery with a big local following, tucked inside the Urban Market at 216 King Street, Pukekohe. It began life as a food truck — the brainchild of Pukekohe chef Holly Jansen, who has cooked for more than 20 years across restaurants, bars and cafés in New Zealand and London, and who founded the well-loved local café Townmouse before selling it in 2018. In 2022 the truck, Gerty, went semi-retired and The Daily Goods moved into its own café space, where it now serves fresh, seasonal food on weekdays plus Saturday mornings.
The focus is healthy, flavour-led café food: fresh seasonal salads and protein sides, toasties hot off the grill, generous brunch plates like shakshuka and the Big "Breakie", and a cabinet full of cakes, sweet pastries, raw slices and macarons. Cold-pressed juices, fruit smoothies and Kokako coffee round things out, with plant milks and coffee alternatives available.
Ingredients are sourced locally where possible — locals supporting locals — and everything leaves in sustainable, compostable packaging. Pre-ordering by text makes the lunch break easy: send your order through and it will be waiting to collect.
Alongside the café, the team caters for events across Franklin and South Auckland and hosts a small number of private functions. Walk-ins are welcome, there is courtyard seating out the back, and well-behaved dogs are welcome in the outdoor area.
The Daily Goods calls itself Pukekohe's weekday lunch go-to, and the title fits. Tucked inside the Urban Market at 216 King Street, it is a small café with a devoted local following — the kind of place where the salads change with the seasons, the toasties come hot off the grill, and the regulars get a proper chat at the counter.
The café is the work of Holly Jansen, a born-and-bred Pukekohe local who has cooked professionally for more than 20 years in restaurants, bars and cafés across New Zealand and London. She founded the well-known Pukekohe café Townmouse and sold it in 2018. Just before New Zealand's Level 4 lockdown, with another café in the planning stages, her brother suggested a different path: a food truck. A quick search on Trade Me and a few sketches later, The Daily Goods was born, serving fresh, healthy weekday lunches to hardworking locals from a truck the team came to call Gerty.
In 2022 the venture moved indoors, taking up its own café space in Pukekohe. Gerty is now semi-retired and, in Holly's words, living her best life, while The Daily Goods has grown into a full café — great coffee, cabinet food and relaxed brunches, plus catering across Franklin and South Auckland.
The menu leans fresh and seasonal without ever feeling worthy. Brunch runs from vanilla-toasted muesli, porridge with stewed seasonal fruit and brioche French toast with lemon curd and blueberry compote, to avo toast and a shakshouka of Middle Eastern spiced tomato, capsicum and chickpea with eggs and feta. The chili scramble brings real heat — turmeric sourdough, chipotle, jalapeno and parsley salsa — while the Big "Breakie", piled with lamb merguez sausages, potato hash, bacon, mushrooms and two eggs, will see off the hungriest appetite. Saturdays add an extra reason to visit: The Bene, with potato hash, spinach, poached eggs and brown butter hollandaise.
Lunch is just as considered. There is a soup of the day with toasted sourdough, and a Buddha bowl that changes weekly — with chicken, salmon or a vege version. The toasties, all served on sourdough with potato chips, run from the classic O.G. of glazed ham, pickle and cheese to the Rendang, a mozzarella-topped toastie of braised beef and rendang curry sauce with crispy shallots.
Then there is the cabinet: cakes and sweet pastries, raw slices, macarons and other sweet treats, made to be enjoyed alongside cold-pressed juices like Get Your Greens and Golden Glow, fruit smoothies, and Kokako coffee — with plant milks and coffee alternatives on request.
Everything here is built around making the weekday lunch break easy. You can walk in and order, or text your order ahead and simply pop in to collect it, ready to heat and eat when you are. Walk-ins are welcome, with extra tables and seating in the courtyard out the back, and well-behaved dogs are welcome in the outdoor seating area. Ingredients are sourced locally where possible, and everything is packed in sustainable, compostable packaging — so you can do your part for the planet too.
Hours are Monday to Friday from 8am to 3pm, and Saturdays from 8am to 1.30pm, with the kitchen closing half an hour before close. Sundays and most public holidays are off; if you are planning a long-weekend visit, check their socials first.
Alongside the daily menu, the same experienced Pukekohe chef and team cater for events across Franklin and South Auckland, with sample menus to browse, and they host a limited number of private functions — worth emailing early to secure a date.
Whether it is a pre-ordered salad on a workday, a slow Saturday brunch in the courtyard, or a cold-pressed juice and a raw slice on the run, The Daily Goods delivers on its promise: healthy, delicious food that saves you time, made by locals for locals.