“We are closing the doors for good tonight.
“Economic conditions, spiralling costs, and excessive rent are all factors in our decision to close. We have been going backwards for too long, hoping things will change but they haven’t, they aren’t.”
KIND was founded as a social enterprise to make the Morningside neighbourhood a greener and healthier place to live. It had been operating for seven years.
The cafe’s post thanked its regulars, neighbours and customers for their support.
“We wish we could have kept going, but it was not to be.”
Ardern’s love for KIND
The owners of KIND are also behind the Crave cafe in Morningside.
Journalist and author David Williams, on behalf of the Under the Hood series for Crave, interviewed Ardern in 2021.
The pair chatted about her choice to bring Colbert to the cafe.
“You brought Stephen Colbert to KIND last October. Was that because it’s called Kind?” Williams said.
“It’s because it’s my local,” Ardern said.
“Literally, it is the place on a Saturday where, if I’ve got a morning off, we’ll put Neve in the pram and we’ll walk around and grab a coffee and then walk home.
“It’s just a part of our little routine when we’re here. I literally took him to my local.
“I do love the philosophy of KIND and Crave. My local is my local because of its philosophy as well.”
Ardern and Colbert were spotted together filming at the eatery in October 2019.
A customer who was there at the same time told Stuff she realised something was going on when she saw a large security presence converge on the cafe.
The pair walked up and down a ramp outside the cafe a few times before ordering coffee.
KIND’s business model was designed to give back to the community, with 80% of the profits reinvested in enriching the Morningside community.
KIND was a mostly vegan cafe that specialised in healthy food options catering to a variety of dietary requirements.
