From sponsors to finalists, We Love Local are first-time finalists in the Kāpiti Horowhenua Electra Business and Innovation Awards.
After sponsoring the awards last year, the growing company enjoyed seeing the success of the previous finalists so much, that this year they entered the awards themselves.
"Being announced as a finalist is very special because it's the first time we've entered any award," co-owner Timo Reitnauer said.
"What makes it even more special is that the award is local and celebrates everything we stand for as a business."
The Kāpiti and Horowhenua Electra Business & Innovation Awards finalists have been announced.
Launching just before Christmas in 2018, offering gifts with products made in Kāpiti, Timo and his partner Valerie started the business as a side project in their garage.
It has now grown into a business operating out of a 400sq m warehouse on Kāpiti Rd, Paraparaumu.
Together they create gift boxes full of locally made goodies with choice options including regional boxes, seasonal boxes and gift collections for special occasions.
"We founded We Love Local driven by our goal to make it easy for anyone to share a gift in a sustainable way and to support local and regional producers who also care for the environment.
"While there was a demand for our gifts pre-Covid, the pandemic really has accelerated Aotearoa's appetite for locally made products.
Valerie Reitnauer with a Kāpiti gift box.
"This was particularly evident over the 2020 Christmas period, with significant demand for gift boxes from both consumers and corporate customers and we've seen revenue grow by 1831.7 per cent in the last financial year.
"Covid has completely changed the game for us."
Starting out with a box full of goodies made in Kāpiti and delivered in their electric vehicle, increasing demand from Kiwis to buy and support local businesses has paved the way to expand into Auckland.
This means We Love Local now stocks more than 60 local businesses and their products from across New Zealand with the goal being to continue to expand, enabling more local businesses in more New Zealand regions to reach a wider audience.
With the 2021 Colmar Brunton Better Futures Report finding 64 per cent of Kiwis want to buy locally produced and grown products rather than imported ones, Timo said their customers know the gifts are not just made in New Zealand but right in their own communities.
"It's increasingly important to Kiwis to buy from their own backyards and we've also seen large international corporates following suit because they also want to support businesses in Aotearoa.
"It's an exciting time to be at the heart and helm of conscious consumption.
"We look forward to seeing ongoing demand for brands like ours, and our suppliers, that are prioritising purpose, people and the planet over profit."
We Love Local are currently operating and delivering in level 4, now's the time to support local and spread the aroha.
