October Issue

• A whole lot of heart
  - Editorial
• life's reflections
  - Lifting the lid on artwork trends Down Under
• Active Play -
  - Challenging the Body and the Mind
• Call Me Loyal
  - What's new on the New Zealand-made gift front?
• Protection Mode
  - Taking Stock of Security
• Special Journies
  - Gifts to have and to hold

Call Me Loyal

What's new on the New Zealand-made gift front?

WORDS BY TAMARA WALKER

Products which are made in New Zealand tend to be a hit with tourists. Visitors have had enough of keyrings and plastic magnets, according to Kiwi General Store owner, Helen Fisher. “Everyone knows they all come in from China,” she says. “Tourists are becoming a lot more discerning about what they buy.”

Taking something genuine and unique home with them strengthens the Kiwi experience for visitors. And there is no shortage when it comes to the variety of New Zealand-made gifts and souvenirs available.

Whether your clientele has traditional, contemporary or practical tastes, there is something for everyone. The products available range from paua ashtrays and poi to stone sculptures and New Zealand-shaped blackboards to manuka honey moisturisers and kiwifruit jams.

Tried-and-true gifts like greenstone pendants and wood products are consistently good sellers. The Stone Studio NZ is a Gisborne-based company making greenstone jewellery and sculptures. They've been in business for 13 years and offer a wide range of designs. Owner/operator Sandra Parker says the items that were popular when they started out are still popular today – the standard drop, heart, adze and infinity-loop pendants.

However, some products have needed added attention coming into the 21st century. Fernwood New Zealand, a manufacturer of gifts made from the ponga tree, has been in business for more than 40 years. Owner David Gratwicke says they've had to take their basic products and modernise them. “If you've got an old intricately carved pot or something that screams of the ‘60s, there's quite a bit that you can do to modernise it,” he says. “You can put lines onto it, you can give it a sleeker style, or you can give it a different look by maybe adding colour to it.”

However, something that screams of the ‘60s may in fact be popular in today's market. There has been a resurgence of some of the retro-style gifts, according to Penny Milne, manager of Auckland retail store The Garden Party. “But today they are less kitsch and tacky,” she says. “Flying ducks on the wall, for example, have made a comeback, only these days they are made out of wood or acrylic instead of ceramics.”

Practicality is one of the biggest factors determining how well New Zealand made gifts sell today. Most tourists need gifts that are small enough and light enough to pack in their suitcase and take on a plane, without being charged exorbitant excess luggage fees.

Many manufacturers are conscious of this when creating their products. Kiwi General Store produces lightweight products including bookmarks, phone and handbag jewellery and a range of sweets. Fernwood New Zealand makes small stands with little calendars mounted on them, coasters and glassless picture frames. They even sell computer memory sticks in a ponga casing. “What we find is generally the smaller products with a little bit of a design element to them are the things that are working best,” says Gratwicke. But there is a downside to selling New Zealand-made: competition with cheaper, imported products. It can be difficult for a New Zealand-made apron retailing at $40 to compete with an imported one retailing at $15.

Parr Products, a family business established in 1951, is one of the largest skincare and souvenir manufacturers and distributors in New Zealand. Tamara Parr says the beauty of being able to manufacture and retail New Zealand-made products is that it gives a uniqueness and appeal to the tourist market. But, she acknowledges, there is a limit to what tourists will pay for certain items. “If a company has flooded the market with cheaper ‘Made in China' product, it makes it a real challenge to market similar products that have been made in New Zealand because of the pricing,” she says.

Still, people want New Zealand-made gifts now more than ever before, according to Stone The Crows owner/partner Carol Osgood, a company that specialises in hand-made Oamaru stone gifts. “It used to be perceived that if something came from New Zealand it wasn't high quality, but people now value New Zealand-made stuff.” So price isn't necessarily the overriding factor. Gifts and souvenirs that are authentic and made by hand, rather than churned out by machine, have – and have added – value.

A few tips for retailers:

• Be proactive – help promote New Zealand-made products.
• Be informed – know who makes the products, where they come from
  and what they're made of – customers like a personal connection.
• Be passionate – you can tell who is passionate about what they sell
  and who sees it as just another product line.
• Support good design – don't just buy on price.

With the 2011 Rugby World Cup kicking off next year there will be an influx of tourists hitting New Zealand. You can be sure most of them will want to leave with a piece of New Zealand, either as a simple memento of their visit or as a gift for family or friends. Gift and souvenir retailers will get one shot at presenting the kind of gift that will catch their eye. What is it to be? It must be ‘Kiwi' – but better still, ‘Kiwi made'.