But the term Australian made can be deceptive and often you will find terms like : "Made in Australia, from Imported Ingredients" or "Made in Australia, from Local and Imported Ingredients".
Then I have to ask myself is better to buy something made in Australia with imported ingredients or something made with Australian ingredients but by an overseas company?
My hubby hates doing the groceries with me because I read the labels on everything I buy to see where it was made, who by, and are the ingredients Australian. I find it much more relaxing if he leaves me to it as well so we have an understanding about it all.
I do not profess to know a huge amount on this subject but I do know that it makes sense to spend you money it a way that will have benefits for the community you live in rather than sending it overseas. A fellow blogger who has been investigating food sources is Rose and you can read all about the Rose Marshall Project on her very informative blog.
According to Dick Smith's website 85% of the products in the average Australian grocery trolley are made by foreign owned companies. This results in $100 million a day going outside Australia. By comparison, in Japan, 98% of goods in supermarkets are owned by Japanese organisations.
There are two key reasons to support Australian owned companies – profits stay in Australia and jobs are created for Australians. If every Australian redirects $10 per week from foreign owned companies and foreign made items to Australian products, Australia would save $4 billion per year and create 100,000 new jobs. (Source: Ausbuy). The Dick Smith's website has some interesting information about the ownership of brands/foreign ownership and is worth a read.
But lets face it the product also has to live up to our expectations and I believe that if it doesn't we should take the time to give that feedback to the producer so they have the opportunity to make changes and give the consumer what they want.
So today I would like to sing the praises of a product that is all the things I want it to be. And better than that not only is it a good product, it is a GREAT product. Kin Kin Naturals dish washing liquid.
Our gas hot water unit is old and you have to keep boiling the jug to get the water hot enough, other wise things have to be washed a 2nd or third time. So as you can imagine a poor quality dish washing liquid only adds to the frustration. But the Kin Kin Naturals dish washing liquid is top notch and concentrated so you only use a very small amount.
11/5/2012 - Update
The dishwashing liquid is still going and we have about 1/8th left.
I would encourage everyone to look out for it and give it a go, and check out their website for all of the stores that stock their products.
So now I would like to know if you can recommend any true Australian products?
I know what you are hinting at, but. In our stores there are many products from Australia, apples canesugar, pineapples etc. If we were avoiding buying them (and all the other European countries too) that would cost jobs in your country too (it would however not use up oil for transport) so, I just would like to say, every solution has its downside too. We are encouraged to buy local produce too, but to never eat a banana or orange or kiwi, to not eat Asian food because of all the ingredients that are not local, we have grown so used to them, we do not even realise they are not local anymore. I think there is a midway, buying while using your brain and choosing if possible for local, alas, we would have enough produce to feed on when we would not export food too, but I think applepie without cinnamon would miss the icing on the cake, oh, and no raisins of course too.
ReplyDeleteHi, this is so true, and my hubby is just the same when I take too long reading all the labels! I find that you can never find the perfect product, just the one that's better than the others, so I try to choose the most local (ingredients and ownership), most chemical-free, most fair trade and most suitable for my requirements from all the options, but this can take some time to work out! Cheers, Liz
ReplyDeleteFiona, you sound like me when I go shopping. I try as much as possible to buy local and organic or at the very least Australian made and grown products and of course fair trade, but it can be difficult.
ReplyDeleteOh by the way, I love the Kin Kin washing up detergent, even better it's made in SE Qld.