Why Not All Our Products Are Made in Australia…

Why Not All Our Products Are Made in Australia…

Well G’day GFZ’s! How are we? 

This week's blog falls in line with Australian Made week and what better time to lay this week's topic all out on the table for you and be real with you! 

I mean you’ve seen Ellie demo our reusable razorby shaving her armpits on our social media, she’s even scraped her tongue and shown you - okay you get it… It is so important to us that our transparency, learnings, honesty (and shaving method) are available to you! 

While we always try to source Aussie made first as a priority and we push to get there, unfortunately Australia does not yet have the manufacturing facilities to make certain products! 

So let’s dive into why our products aren’t ALL made in Australia… 

Our Aussie & NZ Owned ValueS: 

Did you know one of our core values is to only stock products from Australian or New Zealand owned brands to help local families like ours create jobs? We currently have over 2000 plastic-free and toxin-free products available to you from 101 Australian owned brands! Woot woot! 

All of the brands we sell here at Go For Zero are 100% owned by Australian families, and around 60% of products are made in Australia!  While we would absolutely LOVE to have all of our products Aussie made, a few products we just can’t find made here…Yet!

But we’ll keep trying!

Examples of Products That Aren’t Made in Australia, & Why… 

Certain products we simply could not find as ‘Made in Australia’. However, if they are made abroad, they are still designed and owned by an Australian family and made responsibly,  we’ve made sure of it!

1. Bamboo products: Our Bamboo dish brush for example, they have coconut fibres in them which requires a huge machine. Something we have not found in Australia! (check out the machine here.) However, we tried to do what we could. For example, we hired a local legend  to make our wooden soap holder. They are more expensive, but we tried to have them made here and love them. They are always on the list of our bestsellers! Did we mention they are made from recycled wood offcuts?!

2. Silicone products: We looked high and low to have these made here as we believe it should and could be possible. When we found that wasn't the case, we applied for a grant from the government to have a production site started in Australia. Our project we asked funding for was called “Bring manufacturing back to Australia”. We were convinced the government would back us, but we did not receive the grant. We aren’t giving up! 

3. Hold up! … After a lengthy process, we’ve just discovered that our stainless steel pegs can be made here and are moving production over with our next order!

The Process… 

The suppliers we work with overseas go through a process with us, and we request certifications from them too (about working hours, manufacturing processes, wages and more!).

When we select products for our store, the first thing we look at is if they are Aussie or NZ owned (as well as at the company's values). When we tick that box, we look if they are Aussie or NZ made (and after that, we scan ingredients and packaging).

When they are not Aussie made, you betcha, we dig in deeper!

So What’s the Plan… 

Taking the Aussie “she’ll be right” road is just NOT for us! We are constantly learning and searching for ways to have our products made here!! 

We also make sure we offset the overseas shipping of all our private brand products that are made overseas thanks to the legends at Trace! Tracecalculates the amount of carbon emitted during the process and invests our money into projects that will offset it. You can read about the projects we support here! 

Crikey! Would you look at the time! That’s all we have time for today but, as we mentioned before it's our goal to be as much 'Australian made' as possible, so please contact us in case you find an Australian made alternative for us to check out!

We would love to hear from you:askusanything@goforzero.com.au

GFZ Team xx