Tommy's Lifestyle Magazine TLM 349 | Page 4

YOUR LOCAL SPOTLIGHT In this feature we speak to two local businesses, ‘We Love Local’ and ‘Support NZ Local’ who aim to support home grown companies such as Tommy’s Real Estate. We Love Local is in partnership with Tommy’s, We Love Local source local Wellington products for the hampers we gift to our beloved clients. We Love Local is a brand that truly lives by its name. In fact the very nature of the business embodies the values of local community. Creating beautiful gift boxes that showcase the very best and most creative products, made by local artisan producers unique to the region, is at the heart of what We Love Local does. And the rapid increase of interest in their offerings shows many other people love to support local too. The business started out as two separate entities - Kapiti Goodies and Wellington brand We Love Local. Both were passionate about supporting and promoting their neighbouring local regions right from the outset, so when We Love Local became available, it only made sense for Kapiti Goodies owners Timo and Valerie Reitnauer to take it over and amalgamate the two. Now, the umbrella of We Love Local covers the whole Wellington region, allowing more people to experience the quality and range of products made locally. Timo says the couple love sharing the imagination and creativity that is flourishing in our local communities. They started Kapiti Goodies as an idea prompted by the purchase of an electric car. “We thought it would be great to use an EV for deliveries of products from local markets, to promote buying locally and environmental sustainability at the same time,” he says. “The Kapiti Goodies online store launched a few weeks before Christmas of 2018 and we immediately had orders coming through after promoting the site on social media, which showed how much people value the idea of buying locally.” “Local items also travel much smaller distances, using fewer resources, reducing carbon emissions and leading to cleaner, healthier environments,” he said. Timo says the wealth of talent amongst producers in both the Kapiti and Wellington regions is phenomenal. “There are so many people with the imagination and skill to create products that are unique, innovative and of such high quality. We love that we get to share them and introduce people to them in our gift boxes,” he said. The boxes themselves are also part of the Reitnauer’s commitment to local sustainability. All are made here in New Zealand and have been made by The Shed Project - a Paraparaumu initiative to support and help improve the lives of differently-abled people. And now, with New Zealand still in recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, local products are more important than ever.