Made in New Zealand – for us – it’s about integrity

Made in New Zealand symbol - on the Mattress Topper box

Supporting Local Businesses

Made in New Zealand – for us – it’s about integrity

#smilingontheinside – Saturday 14 June 2025

As small business owners, supporting New Zealand-made products isn’t just a choice – it’s a matter of integrity. After all, how could we ask our clients to buy local from us, while not doing the same ourselves?

As C.S. Lewis wisely noted, integrity is about doing the right thing, even when no one’s looking.

Small Business Defined

Our two micro businesses (technically defined as having 1-5 employees) fall under what the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment categorises as small businesses (fewer than 20 people).

Although we were local supporters prior to becoming business owners, this first hand experience as business owners has definitely strengthened our commitment to buying NZ Made and supporting local wherever possible.

Yes – I know – it usually costs more. Which makes it hard. But we still do. Because it’s about having #integrity.

Shopping with Purpose

We take pride in making conscious shopping choices – we get to #smileontheinside.

You’ll find us at New World or Pak’n’Save rather than Australian-owned Woolworths, and we’re regular faces at the Hamilton Farmer’s Market on Sunday mornings. Our home appliances are Fisher & Paykel, and we choose Kiwi-owned retailers like Heathcotes over Australian-owned alternatives like Harvey Norman.

Even our bed – my topic of musing today – purchased last year, came from an Auckland manufacturer through a small Hamilton-owned retailer.

Sleep Struggles and Solutions

While we were away recently, I noticed something interesting – I was getting better sleep on the memory foam mattress in our motorhome than on our really good mattress at home.

This revelation came at a time when I’ve been experiencing increased joint pain, particularly at night. Whether lying still or turning over, my hips, knees, and shoulders have been protesting more than usual.

Some nights, everything hurts.

Finding the Right Topper

Given our relatively new bed was perfectly fine, I decided to explore memory foam mattress toppers as a solution. After quite a bit of online research, I wanted to see and feel the options in person.

Who would’ve thunked there’re so many different types of toppers available…? From goose down to wool, polyprop, memory foam, and gel-memory foam, with prices ranging from $79 to $850.

Making the Choice

Learning that wool, down, and other “fluffy” synthetic options tend to become lumpy over time, we focused on memory foam options, based on my positive experience in the motorhome. The final decision came down to regular versus gel memory foam, with the latter promising better temperature regulation.

While I was initially drawn to the “super plush” soft option, my preference for staying cool at night led me to choose the gel memory foam version.

Now we just need to adjust to our already-high bed being 50mm higher – a small price to pay for a hopefully! better night’s sleep.

Feeling virtuous is also good as well #buyNZmade #smilingontheinside