CELEBRATING NEW ZEALAND-MADE

There have been many innovative ways to help New Zealand businesses during the pandemic, but one of the simplest initiatives is proving to be truly effective in keeping these enterprises front of mind.

It’s a Facebook group named ‘New Zealand Made Products’, which was created to support Kiwi businesses during lockdown and beyond. Founder Sarah Colcord, a business owner herself, was inspired to create the group after she saw a similar initiative from across the ditch.

“I came across ‘Australian Made Products’: that group has only been in existence for four months and already has over 1.5 million members,” she told Newshub. “I thought I was capable of replicating that similar level of success here with a Kiwi version.”

‘New Zealand Made Products’ was created on 13 April, and by May, they had more than 350,000 members. On 24 April, three days before alert level four ended, the group welcomed a whopping 46,000 new members in just one day.

Anyone running a business, or selling products or services, in New Zealand is invited to post about and promote their ventures in the group. There’s a beautiful array of ideas, items and services to discover.