Sharing Local in a Sustainable Way
We Love Local, the brainchild of Valarie and Timo Reitnauer, mindfully curates quality, indulgent gifts from New Zealand’s local regions. The pair co-founded the business in 2018 with their Warehouse and operation located in Ōtaki, and ships boxes all over Aotearoa.
Co-founder Timo Reitnauer shares how they have founded a business that is centred on connecting with local communities and helping local artisan producers across the country find new customers in a sustainable way.
“Sustainability is at the core of our business, and has been right from the beginning. We have tried to ingrain it into our daily operations and this thinking comes quite naturally to us. When we were building our house in Waikanae in 2018 we explored how we could avoid using fossil fuels in the home. We researched and implemented solar power and not having gas connected. This process and knowledge were also transferred into building our business processes.”
One of their many sustainability initiatives is their approach to packaging. Having been raised overseas, Valarie and Timo have seen how a number of recycling practices work for businesses internationally. An initiative that is commonplace in Europe and one that has been adopted for We Love Local is their closed-loop programme, where recipients of the gift boxes can return the wooden boxes to be re-used. All gift boxes are packaged in wooden boxes made by The Shed Project, and filled with natural wood wool.
The team at The Shed Project, which is a community space in Paraparaumu that provides opportunities for people with disabilities, have manufactured several thousand wooden boxes which We Love Local use for their packaging.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today without their help. When boxes are returned to the warehouse for reuse, customers can leave a message for us and you will see a special wall with notes of thanks for the return program. We feel our customers choose to shop with us because of our sustainability initiatives.”
To further reduce the impact on the environment, a number of other initiatives have been implemented for We Love Local. By only stocking NZ-made products, the distance goods travel from suppliers to the business and customers is kept to a minimum, resulting in a reduced carbon footprint.
“Our customers can also choose to further reduce the carbon footprint by choosing to offset the emissions during checkout, with New Zealand’s leading carbon offset provider, CarbonClick.” says Timo.
Valarie and Timo Reitnauer ready to share local products and ship We Love Local nationally
You might also see the pair zipping around Kapiti in their electric vehicle which was initially used to deliver customers gift boxes locally. Having expanded to be able to service all of Aotearoa, the use of the vehicle is no longer feasible to deliver the gifts themselves, however the pair say they still occasionally deliver throughout the Wellington region.
“When I look at other companies operating in this space, I believe we are leading as it has been in our DNA from the beginning” says Timo.
However, although the company is capitalising off their success, there are challenges they face in trying to operate more sustainably.
“Financial investment is our biggest challenge. For example, we are wanting to change our packaging tape to be compostable, which has an increase of $7+ per unit. We are constantly having to review financial implications and in the current economic climate, we do not want to pass this cost onto our customers.”
Although We Love Local don’t have a written sustainability policy, a key business goal is to explore formal certification with Ekos or Toitu.
“It is important for us to have formal certification and this is certainly on the medium-term plan but again we need to balance the financial and time investment of achieving these goals.”
As of July 2022, they have returned $1 million across 150+ small businesses in Aotearoa.
“From the beginning, when we first started in Kāpiti in 2018, our goal was to showcase and celebrate Kiwi artisan producers” says Timo.
They recognise the importance of sustainability for the district, and like all companies on their sustainability journeys Timo shares.
“We’re still working towards our sustainability goals, but we are constantly improving and reducing our footprint. Our biggest long term goal is to become formally certified and build our own warehouse, which includes solar power and supports reducing our footprint even further.”
Timo has advice for other local businesses wanting to do better in the sustainability space.
“Don’t overthink it, and take small steps, little by little. Anything you can do helps you toward the goal, but it is a process and it can be overwhelming. But think small to start with and take action.”
Find out more about We Love Local.
“Sustainability is at the core of our business, and has been from the beginning. We have tried to ingrain it into our daily operations."
– Timo Reitnauer, Co-founder We Love Local