Living NZ Made

2011-02-13T16:51:00.000-08:00

So, as most of you will know, this wee project finished on Waitangi Day. I have spent the last week trying to think of the right thing to say, something along the lines of "yay for NZ made" but to tell the truth, I am almost relieved the year is over. I spent the last few weeks dreaming of all the foreign made things I could soon buy which felt almost like cheating and I considered giving up early.

I spent the year going without so many everyday things like gum, lighters and sunscreen, most of the NZ made things I did buy caused massive financial strain. Thankfully I had friends and family that took pity on me and bought me things like gum, bananas and razors for my birthday and Christmas though I guess this is almost cheating too, though I didn't actually buy the products.

When I went to Aussie I decided I would buy Aussie made, as well as New Zealand made. I figured I wouldn't find too many NZ made things and thought it would make a good comparison, seeing how well I could live off Australian made products. Turns out it is very easy to live off Aussie made products - from the supermarket at least, funds were a little too low to buy much else! Everything we bought at the supermarkets, without even trying, was Australian made even dried pasta! Because we were on such a tight budget we pretty much only bought stuff that was on special but like I said above, it was all Aussie made. A lot of New Zealand made products seem to be the more expensive ones on our shelves but over there, the cheapest options were usually the Aussie made ones. I realise their country is a lot bigger, as with their population, so they can support larger locally made/produced industries, I guess that is the difference between our two countries.

Though this year has introduced me to a lot of great New Zealand made products, I don't think living entirely off New Zealand made products is feasible for anyone on budget, in fact, probably not for anyone except the very wealthy. It is possible to buy everything foreign made second hand, that way the money still goes to a New Zealander. That way you can still get cheap clothes and shoes but I found this quite hard too. To get the good second hand stuff you have to go op-shoping regularly, otherwise you miss out. It can become very time consuming though.

I will continue to buy NZ made when the choice is comparably priced though and I don't mind paying a wee bit more for NZ made things, for Trilogy skincare for example. Both Trilogy and Skinfood were two of my fav buys during the year. It seems New Zealand is rather good at producing skincare, there were a few more ranges around than I expected, unfortunately most were rather expensive though. Skinfood is cheap and accessible, it is sold in most supermarkets at $12.99 each. Trilogy is a bit more expensive, around the $30 mark and is sold in pharmacies and Farmers which are just as easy to get to as the supermarket.

Buying NZ made food was hard at first until I learnt what is and what isn't made here. Sometimes it seemed unfair, for example, a can of Home Brand creamed corn costs $1.09 but it is made/produced in Thailand. Watties on the other hand costs $2.14 for a can. It was similar for canned tomatoes. Trying to survive on a student budget meant that if I was going to buy these, usually something else had to be sacrificed. Fresh produce was ok though, I just had to buy what was in season which I normally do anyway. I did miss bananas though.

Other stuff I got that I really liked was from a more niche-like market. Kurtovich notebooks for example, are very cool (sold in Whitcoulls) but also a little on the expensive side ($15). I also found a lot of cool jewelery makers selling mostly through Trademe or Nest. Their stuff was surprisingly cheap too, maybe because it was sold online, I'm not sure. It does seem though, there is a lot of people out there making some very funky jewellery that is definitely worth a look.

I talked to a couple of economists lately who told me that buying strictly NZ made is not such a great idea for the economy, not if the whole population does it anyway. For a start, we need to encourage overseas investment in our country and we need other countries to buy our goods. New Zealand relies heavily on exports and if we start buying less and less overseas goods then are those countries really going to be so keen to buy our stuff? What surprised me the most was when I was told that people buying our exports pay American dollars for them. Apparently, to get those American dollars back into our economy we have to first buy goods from overseas and bring them back here where people will buy them with New Zealand dollars.

So, when the option is there to buy a New Zealand product, I will take it if I can afford it or think it is a good deal (like clothes, shoes and electronics...we don't produce stuff like computers anyway). Otherwise I'll probably stick with the cheapest option. When it comes to fresh produce though, I previously usually bought stuff grown here and will continue doing so.

Doing this project has taught me a lot about my spending habits but unfortunately they're not going to change too much.

2010-12-26T00:01:00.001-08:00

I didn’t want to post this before Christmas in case any of my family happened to read it and figure out what they were getting but...Christmas huh?...it’s always a bit of a strain on the pockets and considering I’ve found most NZ-made stuff to be rather expensive I knew I wouldn’t be able to buy much this year...so I made most of my presents. It was mostly jewellery which used up a lot of old beads I had lying around (plus a few i got from Trademe...not NZ-made but second hand). The guys of the family were a bit harder though. My brother is into brewing these days so I popped down to Aqua Vitae to see if they had any NZ-made stuff. Turns out a lot of it is made here...well...the dude behind the counter assured me it was made here, even if the label on the packets said made in Australia, he got a bit fired up when I kept questioning him about it so I said I believed him and bought it anyway. As for Dad, well he’s always been hard to buy for so I decided to make some DVDs (I managed to “borrow” some blank ones from mum!) but that didn’t really work, turns out it takes a very long time to burn DVDs and as I am a do-everything-at-the-last-minute kind of person I kinda ran out of time...so I went down to Dusk, the local NZ-made store. There was some very cool stuff but unfortunately nothing that he would like, same for the market in Cathedral Square. I had almost given up when I found myself amongst the hustle and bustle of the mall, kinda bored I wandered into acquisitions to play with the random wee toys but instead found a small NZ-made section! It was mostly sauces and seasonings which everyone likes right?

And now that Christmas is over I have my summer holiday to look forward to...Australian road trip for two weeks! I booked the tickets at the start of the year, not really thinking how much harder it would be to live NZ-made over there (and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t even think I would last this long, I don’t have the best will power and thought i would have caved by now and gone back to my old spending habits)so I decided why not try buying only NZ and Australian made stuff. Is that a cop out?...maybe but I think it will be an interesting comparison and I am going to be on a super strict budget (being a student doesn’t give much opportunity to save!) in fact, I am going to be cutting it very fine...that’s part of the fun of travelling though right?

Warwick: thankfully New Zealand made.

2010-11-17T16:42:00.000-08:00

A slight interrogation of the Warwick customer services people leads me to find cheap New Zealand made stationary, a very welcoming discovery.

Long time no write I know! Things have been a bit crazy around here what with end of term/year assignments and earthquakes. I had to move house as our old one has been too badly damaged which means I haven’t had any spare money for quite some time, also another reason I haven’t written – I haven’t been able to buy anything!

I have been looking into New Zealand made stationary though. Before I started this project I was a bit of a stationary geek, I was such a sucker for a new notebook or a fancy pen so since starting this project I have been lamenting the fact that the only funky New Zealand Made notebooks are $15.

I was having trouble tracking down plainer New Zealand made stationary, I found some Warwick items (refill pad and 50cent notebooks) were labelled as being made here and even though the website lists Warwick as a New Zealand icon, none of the other products had a country of origin label. I emailed Warwick but never heard back so came to the conclusion that I was going to stick to the items that were clearly labelled New Zealand Made.

But I have been going through a lot paper practising my teeline/shorthand and especially in class when we do our speed tests, refill is just too big and bulky. Our tutor tells us to get a specific kind of notebook – a small, top (spiral) bound notebook but I can’t find any that are made here. The one’s she recommends are made in Australia.

I had been using the $15 notebooks when conducting interviews though, so I didn’t lose pages but it was getting rather expensive so I emailed the customer service people at Warwick again, just to check exactly which of their products are made here, hoping that more than refill and the notebooks were made here.

Turns out ALL their products are made here! I feel a little silly for not pursuing my enquiry properly earlier but at least we know for sure now. They don’t make the top bound spiral notebooks my tutor is so set on but they do make side bound ones, they’re pretty much the same!

2010-08-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

So we had a mid-winter xmas thing for class...two days before it we did the pull a name out the hat thing for secret santa. I was working all day both of those days so didn't get a chance to go shopping, most New Zealand made stuff seems to be sold online anyway so after postage it would have been way over the $5 limit, not that it would have got to me in those 2 days anyway. I thought my only option was going to be chocolate or Lotto scratchies which I didn't really want to give...so I raided my bead box and was able to make a necklace, the only problem is I'm really jealous of it, I really want it...but now I don't
Photo: SMN, Flickr have enough beads or chain left!

2010-07-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

I’ve been seeing silicon and ceramic takeaway coffee cups everywhere and have been feeling really guilty about getting my coffee in disposable cups, even though they are recyclable. I have finally found a New Zealand made one though, check out Ideal Cup, made in Wellington. According to their website, if you purchase one drink a day in a disposable cup you create 10.5kg of waste in a year!

At the moment these cups come with a "classic takeaway" lid which is resusable and biodegradable but the company is hoping to release an 'ideal lid' later this week. The can also make the cups in any colour (if ordering over 300) and print company/cafe logos and infomation.

I know coffee isn't grown here but I consider it to be made here.

There are 136 roasterys in New Zealand about nine of which are in Christchurch.

Of the Christchurch ones Addington, Izon, Ris'tretto, Switch Espresso and Underground Coffee all have 100% Fairtrade organic coffee.

C4, Contract Coffee Roasters (or Caffe Prima), Hummingbird and Vivace Espresso all have the option of Fairtrade organic.

I usually buy Hummingbird or Switch coffee. That's probably because Underground seems to be in almost every cafe, especially on campus and the guy that set up Switch is a friend of a friend kind of thing...and both are really consistent with flavour!

That doesn’t mean the others aren’t good though. Addington Coffee Co-Op have a funky wee cafe and according to their website, “invest their profits back into the communities that bring us this growing range of exquisite products.” C4 also have an amazing cafe but it’s in the opposite direction of where I usually go. Vivace I have seen around but have only ever had one or two so can’t judge the flavour as every barista makes a different coffee. As for Izon and Ris’tretto, I haven’t seen them around town at all!

2010-06-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

Ok so I'm in Tauranga, when I unpacked my bag last night I discovered I had left my deodorant at home!
I want the ecostore deo which is $12.90, twice the price of supermarket, foreign made deo but it is made here and it's aluminum and paraben free. However, no-one in Tauranga sells it and it's going to cost me $12 for postage from Auckland (or Palmy) which I think is ridiculous...and I only have $15.
So my options are to wait a week till I'm back in Auckland and visit their shop there but go without in the meantime or run down to the supermarket and grab whatever is on special there.
I'm sposed to be climbing a mountain today and have a couple of parties to go to over the next couple of days...and the friends I'm staying with are somewhat opposed to me going without deo so it looks at though I might just have to buy it...or maybe reassess the situation at the end of today.

2010-06-15T04:06:00.000-07:00

So I've had this awful flu/cold for a few days but can't buy panadol or other medicines to help get rid of it! Luckily I had a wee stash of panadol but I'm now down to 4, maybe 6 which won't last long. I've been making lemon drinks with honey which are good for the throat but do nothing for the head. So what should I do?...Just buy the panadol anyway? Last time I was at the docs I asked him to look up what medicines are made here. There were only about 6, one of which is ibuprofen or some form of. I can't find it anywhere though so assume it's a prescription only deal, only I can't afford to go to the doc. So, either I suck it up and try the mind-over-matter thing or fail and buy it...

I can't even put ginger in my drinks, it's all imported (whole ginger). We do have wild ginger growing here but I've never heard of any outside Waikato and it's the wrong time of year to stick some in the garden...but it's so delicious!

Greggs, which I'm sure you'll find in any New Zealanders pantry, sell ginger. It's not made here, but it is packaged here. I've been assuming this is ok, it's just like Coke being made here except Greggs is a New Zealand company.

Photo: ms.tea

2010-06-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

Check out Felt, it's a website full of amazing handmade things. From what I can see everything is made here, the rules for selling on the site are that you make the items yourself and each time you click on an item it shows the sellers details, where they are based etc. Everything is priced really well too, well within my budget!
Thanks for the tip Christine...I had been to it before but maybe didn't have any money at the time!

2010-06-07T19:52:00.001-07:00

I recently got my hands on some Feel at Home soaps and lip balm. They’re hand-made with natural and organic ingredients, mainly sourced from New Zealand companies. They also sell bath and massage products and soap mats made from recycled wood.

2010-05-17T02:55:00.003-07:00

Another thing I can’t seem to go without is light bulbs. I can’t find anyone that makes them here but it’s starting to get dark around 4 in the afternoon (in my room at least) and the one light I have left doesn’t light it anywhere near well enough for me to do my homework. When I started this year I had grand visions of living it out by candle-light but sadly I now realise it’s not going to happen. So just like batteries, I am going to have to buy foreign made lights. I did find a couple of New Zealand companies that import and sell bulbs direct to the public, The Light Bulb Shop, The Light Bulb Man, and Lighting Direct. I figure buying from a local business like these is the next best solution.

Photo: qisur, flickr

Batteries: I just can't do without them.

2010-05-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

I was rushing to get to an interview in the weekend when I realised I had left my pen and paper at home. I had my dictaphone, but the batteries were almost flat and probably wouldn’t have lasted through the interview.

As I was already running late I didn’t want to turn around to find a Whitcoulls or such shop where I know they sell New Zealand-made pens and paper, and I knew I'd be driving past a supermarket. The supermarket sold made-in-NZ Bic pens but not paper, all the batteries were made in China. I knew I was going to need batteries at some point though as I rely on my dictaphone so I went ahead and bought them. Unfortunately they had no rechargeable ones so I had to buy the disposables. Rechargeables are the way to go though, not only will they reduce the amount of batteries in landfills, they will reduce the amount of foreign bought goods I will need this year.

Zerobag - An awesome NZ made alternative to the plastic shopping bag

2010-05-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

Has anyone stumbled across Zerobag bags yet? They're made here, from recycled parachutes soucred locally. When I heard that I thought 'why would I want a bag made of parachute?' I had assumed that parachute material would be big and bulky but no, it's really thin but also super strong. When the Zerobag team told me that the bags would hold 16 bottles of wine I thought they were having a laugh so I tried to catch them out. I didn't have that many bottles so raided the book shelf, filled the bag right up with books and it survived, I should have just believed them to begin with! Not only are they super strong, they pack down so small that I usually have to hunt through my handbag to find it.

A New Zealand Made Mother's Day

2010-05-04T03:04:00.000-07:00

While searching for something NZ made for Mum I came across three companies offering NZ made gifts.
Buckton & Day and Checkout New Zealand offer everything from oven trays to cat doors. The Beautiful Box Company Ltd offers a range of gifts sectioned into categories such as corporate gifts; gifts for kids; Maori gifts and even Mothers day gifts. www.getnzmade.net, my new favourite site also has a search option for Mothers day gifts. Check them out if your stuck for ideas!

Health Basics, a cheap NZ made alternative.

2010-05-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe I didn’t think of them before: the Health Basics range is made here. They’re really cheap compared to other New Zealand made skincare ranges and you can find them almost anywhere, even in The Warehouse. It really is a bit slack that they’re usually on the bottom shelf though. Whatever reasons supermarkets actually have for which products go on which shelves, the ones on the bottom are not going to be bought if people can’t see them as well. I know hardly ever look at the bottom shelves. I’m not sure if the supermarkets always carry their whole range either, I found a kiwifruit scrub in the clearance bin today but I’ve never seen it on the shelf before. Anyway, it is an amazing scrub. It has large exfoliating particles though so not an everyday scrub. Skinfood do an amazing everyday scrub though, I’ve been using it for at least a month now and it’s definitely as good, if not better than the American made one I was using before.

A New Zealand Razor!

2010-05-04T02:46:00.001-07:00

Made by Goodfella (www.goodfella.co.nz) the razor is $95 and unfortunately quite outside my budget. It is a one time purchase though which is always a plus so if the wax thing doesn’t work out I can always save for it. The guys at www.rubbishfree.co.nz will be selling them there soon too if you want to check them out.

2010-04-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems I have spoken too soon!...If your after NZ made deoderant too check out www.regenerate.co.nz, www.riasoap.co.nz or www.ecostoredirect.co.nz.

A year without deoderant or shaving?

2010-04-20T03:30:00.000-07:00

As soon as I came to terms with not being able to buy hairspray I ran out of deoderant. I have scoured the supermarkets, pharmacies and health shops but can't find any made here. So what do I do?...go without? I've heard that if you go for long enough without using it you don't need it anymore, your body just adapts. I have also heard from people that have tried it that it doesn't work. Google told me my other options were vinegar, lemon or baking soda. I tried the lemon but not only did it not work, it stung and left aweful marks on my shirt too. I figure deoderant is just one of the luxuries I won't be able to do without but where should I buy it? The local chemist or the supermarket? I figure as long as the supermarket is a franchise it's the same as buying it from a local shop so it doesn't matter where I buy it. Razors also aren't made here and I'm down to my last one. Should I get waxes? Even if I can't find a wax made here I figure if I go to a local beautician it's ok, surely it's the same as getting the local dressmaker to make me clothes? Either that or I buy one of those cut throat razors that I can get sharpened, at least that will reduce the amount of non NZ made things I need to buy. I do have an electric one but I've never liked it and I would have to buy Chinese made batteries to power it.

2010-04-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

I just used the last of my hairspray. So far I have been unable to find any New Zealand made stuff so it's either a year of no hair spray or try to make some. I'm thinking maybe a bit of salt or lemon water might do the trick. I don't imagine it working anything like hair spray out of a can though. I envisage the salt water making my hair quite dull, just like after a day at the beach. Not sure if I really want to smell like lemons all the time either.

Could a local dressmaker be the answer?

2010-04-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

As it was so easy to find Easter egg moulds and I couldn’t afford New Zealand made clothes I typed “NZ made” into Trademe’s search bar. It uncovered a lot more than I expected. Some of it was second hand but there was quite a bit of new stuff. It seems small businesses are using Trademe as another outlet for their products; most had links to their own websites.

This seems such a good way for them to compete with established New Zealand clothing companies. Small businesses can’t afford advertising as big companies can so Trademe is a perfect. I got a really nice brand new merino jersey for $20. I’m sure I would never have found one of that quality for that cheap in a shop.

This got me thinking though. I could ask my local dressmaker to make me clothes. They would be made here and the money would stay here. For an item of clothing to be considered NZ made it has to be designed and made here, the material can be imported.

Can I skip a step and make stuff myself then? I’d actually have to buy the material instead of paying someone else to buy it though but there are people here who go overseas and bring material back. If I do have to buy it it makes sense to buy it from someone like that than a big store like Spotlight but it would still mean buying something that isn’t NZ made. No matter where I get my clothes though, someone at some point in the chain has had to buy the material.

Fortunately I don’t have a problem paying someone to sew for me, it’s a lot easier than getting frustrated and giving up which would be the inevitable conclusion of doing it myself.

Photos: Trekkyandy via Flickr
Shoes on wires via Flickr

A New Zealand Made Easter

2010-04-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

My flatmates proposed an easter egg hunt this year. At that stage I still hadn't managed to find any New Zealand made easter eggs so I told them I would hide some Peanut Slabs or Sante bars. Outraged, they demanded I make some instead.

I thought, surely if I can't find NZ made eggs, I won't be able to find NZ made chocolate molds so I jumped on Trademe to see if there were any second hand ones going.

I didn't find any second hand ones but did find a couple who run a business called Homestyle Chocolates. They make everything from chocolates to molds. You can even order personalised molds! In Christchurch they sell out of Spotlight, Bin Inn and Icing Specialists.

Unfortunately I lost track of time and suddenly there were public holidays all over the place so I never got a chance to grab some molds. Thankfully though I found Cadbury's marshmallow eggs are made here. I had assumed they weren't as all the other Cadbury eggs I looked at were made overseas, mostly in the UK.

Apparently The Warehouse had a good selection of NZ made easter eggs too. I didn't get a chance to get there before they sold out (I thought they would have the same range as the supermarket) but according to my flatmate there were quite a few there with the "made in New Zealand" logo on them.

Photo courtesy of Lotus Head via Wikimedia Commons

Marmite or Vegemite?

2010-03-31T00:19:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend in Australia the other night. She said, while looking at Vegemite in her local supermarket, she had noticed that the same sized jar of Marmite was cheaper.

Vegemite is Australian made but is owned by the American company Kraft. According to Wikipedia Vegemite is also made in New Zealand, but it is still owned by Kraft. Marmite here though is unique to New Zealand (British made marmite uses a different recipe). It is made in Christchurch by Sanitarium which was founded in Australia and is surprisingly owned by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Is there any difference then? Marmite is marketed as a New Zealand icon and it does seem more New Zealanders prefer it to Vegemite. If both Vegemite and Marmite are made for offshore companies though should we be supporting one over the other?

Sanitarium is more local so it seems to make more sense to support them over Kraft. If both can wear the "Made in New Zealand" tag though, is there any difference? Some amount of the money we pay for the product will go back to Sanitarium and Kraft but some will remain here in the pockets of their employees.

I went down to my local supermarket to see if I could get my hands on some NZ made Vegemite but all the jars had “made in Australia” on them.

I contacted Sarah Goffe of the Buy New Zealand Made Campaign who in turn contacted Sanitarium to see if they make Vegemite on behalf of Kraft. The response was that Vegemite IS NOT made here. Sarah said the logo used on the picture supplied by Wikipedia is over 10 years old so Vegemite was once made here but no longer is. I also went to the supermarket to check the Vegemite range, all said "made in Australia".

Personally I don't have a preference, I like Marmite and Vegemite and I think it is safe to buy anything that wears a NZ Made tag. To be eligible for the tag companies have to prove their product is made here and the Commerce Commission hands out pretty harsh penalties to companies that claim something they're not.

So, unless I can find a 10 year old jar of Vegemite, it is off the menu too.

Blinded by advertising

2010-03-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year two of my favourite people moved up north. I really wanted to get up there sometime in this half of the year to visit them so when Jetstar advertised $29 flights to Auckland I snapped them up without thinking. Obviously Jetstar (owned by Qantas) isn't a New Zealand company though. I should have booked with Air New Zealand but I was blinded by the cheap fares and constant advertising. Now that I have another wee mark in the fail column I realise that we are constantly bombarded with advertising but often it's the overseas companies that have money to tell us how awesome their products are. Has anyone noticed how many ads are shown for New Zealand companies or products?

Smoothies and Skincare.

2010-03-21T04:50:00.000-07:00

As I write this I am swigging back a bottle of Arano Vanilla Bean and Honey Goodness Smoothie. It seriously has to be the best smoothie I have had in a long time. At $3.90 (375mL!) it was almost passed over, especially as the Simply Squeezed range was on special at $1.99 but I thought I may as well splash out and treat myself...I have had a very hard weekend. So glad I did, it's delicious! They had other flavours too, most notably carrot (juice, not smoothie).

Since running out of the only (sadly French made) nail polish that kept my nails in an acceptable state I have been searching for a NZ made solution. I've had lots of great suggestions; one of which was Trilogy's Everything Balm (thanks Annabel!) It is made in New Zealand, but it's not a product of New Zealand. I did happen to have some already though, I just use it as a hand cream each night and my nails have been all good!

This prompted me to search for other moisturisers, and the like. Skinfood (www.skinfood.co.nz) definitely came out on top. For accessibility and price. The range was all about half that of the equivalents in the other brands and I found it on the shelf at the local supermarket. Mossops (www.mossopshoney.co.nz); Emotional Rescue Skincare (www.emotionalrescue.co.nz) and Manig Olies (www.manigolies.co.nz) were all similarly priced. They are all made from natural ingredients too. Manig Olies is even made in Christchurch! Two others came up in my search but I’m not so sure about them, Geo skincare (www.geoskincare.co.nz) and Oasis (www.oasisbeauty.co.nz). Geo skincare doesn’t actually say ‘made in New Zealand’. Oasis first turned me off when my eye stumbled onto the product information page. It seemed to be a list of warnings. It warned of temporary tingling and other discomforts due to a high amount of active ingredients. It also said it includes natural ingredients where the others said 100% natural ingredients. Why would I want to buy a product when the website lists side affects? The websites look surprisingly similar too. Geo skincare didn’t offer prices and Oasis was similar to Mossops, Emotional rescue and Manig Olies.

So, for now I am using up the last dregs of what I had before I started this experiment but when that’s all gone I will check out the Skinfood range. Maybe later when I have a bit more cash to throw around I will give Mossops, Emotional rescue or Manig Olies a go.

Shrewsburys vs. Creme Eggs.

2010-03-12T16:23:00.000-08:00

Photo courtesy of rightee via Flickr
So I found out my fav biscuits (Shrewsburys in case you were wondering!) are made here. They'd been sitting there in the 'aisle of value' for ages tempting me but I kept walking past, sure that they were made in Australia. One day though I decided it was worth a look, thankfully. The 'made in...' bit was really hard to find though, I was looking for ages. An older lady went to grab a packet and noticed me trying to read the back...she tried to teach me how to read the nutritional infomation! Cadbury creme eggs though...omg...made in the UK!!! I'm so dissapointed right now! What do we have a Cadbury factory for if they don't make creme eggs...if only Whittakers could see!

NZ paper?

2010-03-08T23:19:00.000-08:00

So I looked up Warwick and Croxley online today. The Croxley website lists Warwicks' 'country of origin' as New Zealand, even says it's a 'New Zealand icon', the Olympic brand too. Why do only the loose leaf refill pads and the 50c notebooks say they are made in New Zealand then? If the other products aren't made here why is New Zealand listed as the country of origin? Maybe it's just that manufacturing has moved offshore. Is it ok to buy then? Afterall it is (supposedly) a New Zealand icon and I need to get paper from somewhere. Fortunately I don't really need more than refill except printer paper but I can do my printing at Uni. I still have to pay for printing at Uni but my money doesn't go directly on paper, or ink for that matter so does it count? Probably yes but at this stage I don't see a way around it.
Photo courtesy of Kristian D. via Flickr.

Petrol again.

2010-03-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

The empty light in my car had been on for a few days and I kept meaning to go find a Challenge petrol station but always seemed to be in a rush. Today I had to run a few errands, one of which took me close to a Challenge. On the way though my car started doing all those stupid things they do just before they die and make you walk miles in search of petrol which I was in no fit state to be doing this morning. I happened to be close to a BP though and had a $20 AA voucher (BP is the only petrol station that takes them) so I pulled in and filled up with $20 worth of petrol. I figure it was ok though cos it was the AA's money, not mine.

Expensive but totally worth it notebooks.

2010-03-04T19:35:00.000-08:00

I did it...I bought the NZ made notebooks. They weren't the $22 ones though, I found an NZ made notebook section at Whitcoulls!...They only had a few sizes but heaps of designs. The one I bought was $15 so still a little expensive considering how fast I'm going through it but worth it I think. I've also been put onto some NZ made pens (thanks Annabel!). BeGreen pens are made here (with some recycled plastic!) but I have yet to get my hands on some. The Warehouse Stationary assures me they stock them but can never seem to find them when I go in. Hopefully that means they're sold out!

Supermarket chains or locally owned?

2010-02-26T22:01:00.000-08:00

So I failed again...kinda...I had to buy the fruit and veg for work today and didn't really have a choice about what things to get. Aswell as heaps of NZ fruit and veg I ended up getting Ecuadorian bananas and Italian kiwifruit.I did go to Growers Direct though, figured it's better than The Funky Pumpkin, Raeward Fresh, Countdown or whatever. Also, it wasn't my money and I didn't have a choice about what to buy.

No gum!

2010-02-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

Are you kidding me?...I can't chew gum for the next year!?

Budget blowing notebooks...

2010-02-22T19:13:00.000-08:00

I went to buy paper and pens today. Suprisingly I straight away found two NZ made items...Warwick (made by Croxley) loose leaf refill and those little 50c notebooks. Unfortunately I need printer paper and spiral bound books. The only versions of these that weren't made in Indonesia didn't state country of origin. As some of them were also Warwick I assume they're not made here otherwise it would say so. Pens too...I should have just not bothered! I scoured the shelves for what seemed like hours in that ridiculous heat, just as I was about to give up I saw two spiral bound notebooks with "made in NZ" stickers. I thought 'awesome, now I can get outta here' that's when I turned one of them over...$22!...are they serious? Sure it had a lump of paua stuck to the cover (which would undoubtedly remove itself the first time I put it in my bag, no matter how careful I was) but the same sized book (and in my opinion better looking) from an undisclosed country was $5! So what should I do?...Blow my budget on a ridiculously priced notebook or grab one from who knows where?

Franchises, corporate superstars and coconut cream.

2010-02-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

I had a rather drunken momentary lapse of reason on Saturday night...ended up at BK. Although their food is technically made in New Zealand I'm not sure that it counts. Is it possible to get a New Zealand version of good old sobering greasiness for that cheap at that time of night? BK is a franchise so a New Zealander does own and operate it but does that make it a New Zealand product?...McDonalds claim to source their ingredients locally but I can't find any info to suggest BK does the same. Surely it would be cheaper to get them from here than to import them from America or wherever though. Surely this is the same as the Dilmah dilemma. While I'd like to think this exercise is restricting me from putting more money in the pockets of corporate superstars I'm not sure that's possible. Even coke is 'made in NZ'...they bought L&P too so what I thought was an iconic New Zealand drink and 'safe to buy' actually now belongs to a massive multi-national corporation! There are things that we all consume everyday that I'm sure most people don't consider, sugar for example. We don't grow sugarcane here so have to import all our sugar but it's in almost everything we consume and I'm sure pretty much everyone can't live without it in some form. I figure if there is no NZ made equivalent to something I need (versus something I want) then it's ok to go for the next best option. Last week on my night to cook, I really wanted to make a Thai curry, I had been looking forward to it all day then got to the supermarket and discovered coconut cream isn't made here. If I had of thought a bit more I would have realised this but was blinded by my curry craving. The only options were 'Made in Thailand', 'Made in Samoa' or the home brand version which didn't state country of origin. I figure next time it's ok to buy the cream from Samoa as it is one of the few exports they have as opposed to Thailands giant 'Trident'.

NZ made petrol?

2010-02-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

So I was telling Grandad about this project and the first thing he asked was "where will you get your petrol from?" I hadn't thought about petrol at all and had a sudden glimpse of myself biking everywhere for the next year. He went on to tell me that New Zealand produces/refines some petrol. No-one seemed to know where I could get my hands on this petrol so once again I turned to google. Turns out Challenge petrol stations sell it, not only that, they are a purely New Zealand company, a franchise too!

Dilmah Dilemma..revisited.

2010-02-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

So...the 'Dilmah Dilemma'...I figure products made in New Zealand, even if profits go offshore are ok to buy. After all, production here creates job oppourtunies for Kiwis. We only have a small manufacturing capacity anyway. New Zealand focusses mainly on tourism and agriculture but money earnt here isn't enough to cover our imports, therefore, foreign investments need to be encouraged.

Keep the money here or let some go offshore?

2010-02-17T01:06:00.000-08:00

Thoroughly depressing shopping day!...My pay has been burning a hole in my pocket for a week now so today I decided to do something about it. A week or so ago I managed to rip a pretty big hole in the knee of my last good pair of tights and was gutted at the prospect of lasting a year with no tights. I searched http://www.madefromnewzealand.com/ for stockings/tights just on the off chance that possibly someone here might make them and 'Columbine' turned up. Not only are they one of the cheapest brands, from my experience they are the longest lasting. They also have heaps of different styles and colours so yay for Columbine! Next time you need some stockings check them out. After this wee win I went to check out the skincare section as my moisteriser is getting very low. I was rather suprised to find several 'made in New Zealand' brands. However, I was a bit sceptical so came home and googled them. Turns out I have another Dilmah situation on my hands...whilst the products are made here, they are made for offshore companies. I know there are skincare products being made here for local companies but the ones I have come across have been quite outside my price range. So...do I save and splash out on some made by New Zealand companies or do I go for the option made by offshore companies?

Dilmah Dilemma...

2010-02-14T19:33:00.000-08:00

Ok so first post...It's been 10 days now and has been easier than I thought to live off New Zealand made products. I've only really bought food and drink though so seasonal fruit and the like. I did buy some Dilmah iced tea though, thought I was doing good by passing over my more favoured Lipton for the NZ made Dilmah. However, I later realised that while producing here creates job opportunities, the profit will still go back to Mr Dilamh in Sri Lanka. So...my Dilmah dilemma...to buy or not to buy?...Probably not, I'm not that attached to it anyway.