What are the best NZ made and owned alternatives to US brands?

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I’m working on a series of poster/images for !buyoceanian@quokk.au - A comm for promoting NZ/Aus goods.

While I have a wide range of taste experiences with the Australian made side, I plan on making some for NZ brands as well. Can I please get some of your recommendations and suggestions. Thank you

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I’ve been interested in clothes recently. Here are a couple:

I’d be keen to know about other clothing, like NZ Made T-shirts that aren’t just Bangladesh made T-shirts with screen printing done in NZ.

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Thumbs up for thunderpants

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Not everyday brands, but we have some amazing outdoor brands, mostly quality high end stuff;

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I’ve been a doc marten guy my whole live but they’ve gone down hill. One day I’ll buy a pair of McKinley’s. I’ve heard great things

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he/him

Whittaker’s chocolate https://www.whittakers.co.nz

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The GOAT

Definitely worth spending abit extra on this over Cadbury

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I don’t even think of Cadbury as chocolate anymore.

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Buy NZ Made is a good resource;
https://www.buynz.org.nz/

+1 for Cactus Clothing. It’s expensive but they guarantee it for a lifetime and handle repairs.

Some companies I haven’t seen mentioned yet;

Mussel Inn micro-brewery, not sure if their brews are available retail but they’re great!
https://www.musselinn.co.nz/Brewery/brewery.html

https://www.musselinn.co.nz/Brewery/brewery.html

Ocho chocolate factory in Ōtepoti;
https://ocho.co.nz/

Baker Boys biscuits, based in Ōtautahi;
https://www.bakerboys.co.nz/

Last Footwear Company, reputed to be the Cactus of shoes. Can’t find a homepage but they’re on FarceBook.

Haka Clothing is a maybe;
https://www.hakaclothing.com/about-us

They say it’s designed and hand-printed in Aotearoa, but they don’t specificy where it’s made. But someone gave me a Haka hat as a present and it lasted about 15 years in heavy use, so …

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Oh man. Ocho is actually so friggin good.

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Great comment. I’m gonna save this

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For some direct replacements:

  • Coke range/Pepsi range -> Foxton Fizz or Pete’s
  • Hershey’s/other chocolate -> Whittiker’s or for fancier stuff Wellington Chocolate Factory.
  • I don’t know US biscuit (cookie) brands -> Cookie Time (NZ Family Owned and NZ made), there are others NZ made but not sure of others NZ owned
  • Starbucks -> Mojo is Wellington’s starbucks, it’s on every corner. Not sure about ownership though. Ark Coffee is probably my favourite owned and roasted in NZ coffee bean source, but it’s expensive so I only drink it occasionally. Lots of NZ coffee roasters though. There’s also Ikarus which roasts imported coffee but also has NZs (as far as I know) only commercial coffee plantation, so you can drink NZ grown coffee (if in season), and also will make the previous mentioned coffee look cheap.

I have trouble thinking of things so if you have other US products then I can try to suggest some NZ owned and made alternatives!

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he/him

https://www.macpac.co.nz/ make good outdoor clothes.

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I still got my black macpac thats lasted over 10 years and still in perfect condition. I use it every day.

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Didn’t MacPac outsource their production to China years ago?

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Oh yeah!

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L&P. Please export it across the pond to us in Aus.

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L&P is owned by Coke 🙁

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Is it still made in NZ? All softdrinks are owned by Coke and Pepsi sadly, but at least L&P is uniquely NZ.

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Nah there are pleny of small places that make soft drink and aren’t owned by coke or pepsi.

The post is specifically asking for alternatives to US brand so I don’t think this counts. Most of Coke’s line is made in NZ but it’s still a big US brand.

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That’s fair, it’s a shame though, it is a quintessential NZ drink.

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Try L&T (lemon and Te Aroha) if you haven’t already. It’s still uniquely kiwi and tastes great! It came out im the 1800s. Got discontinued for a few decades but is back and worth the switch.

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Cries in Australian.

I’m guessing it’s not available over here, but next time I’m in the area, will definitely seek it out :)

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Mostly outdoor stuff from me

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