Now is the time for Kiwi shoppers to let politicians, food manufacturers and food retailers know what they want.

Use your wallet to show food manufacturers what you want. Try buying only food items with 'Product of (insert name of country here!)' on them.

Here are some other ways to be 'CoOL':

Have you ever asked the produce manager in your supermarket a question?

Next time you are in the produce section, have a look around, can you tell where all the fresh fruit and vegetables have come from?
If not, ASK!
 

Do you know the difference between 'Made in New Zealand' and 'Product of New Zealand'?

'Product of New Zealand' means it was grown here. 'Made in New Zealand' means it was either grown here or processed here, from ingredients that could have come from New Zealand or anywhere.

Visit the Commerce Commission’s website to find out more:
 

Have you ever seen a label that says 'Made in New Zealand from local and/or imported ingredients'? What do you think that means?

Companies are not legally required to put this information on a can or packet. They do it because they know 80% of New Zealanders say they would buy New Zealand Made in preference to other products (Buy Kiwi Made campaign research, conducted by Research International, 2007).

However, the ‘Made in New Zealand’ does not automatically mean the food contents of the can or pack where actually grown in New Zealand.

For example, a can of Baked Beans with “Made in New Zealand” on it could have been made from imported tomatoes and imported beans. We don’t grow those beans in New Zealand! Once the tomatoes and beans are made into “baked beans” here in New Zealand, the manufacturer is legally entitled to put Made in New Zealand on the can. Even though neither of the food products in the can were grown here.
 

Read Labels!

New Zealanders grow up thinking just about all the food for sale in this country is produced here.

We all know how good New Zealand is at growing food, and we ASSUME that what is for sale in the shops came from our own farms, orchards and gardens.

CoOL New Zealand believes food manufacturers don’t really mind if shoppers in this country think the food they are buying, particularly in cans and packets, comes from this country.

In some cases we also think the manufacturers charge more for a product that is perceived to be New Zealand grown, when the labelling laws we have do not require the company to say if this is actually the case or not.

So, read labels, think about the claims and the information provided on the pack and think about what you might be buying.
 

Most of all: Don’t ASSUME!