Little Garden is back with seasonal product savings

Thanks to frequent customer requests, Little Garden is back in New World stores this spring with 24 collectible seedling kits and a new range of friendly characters to help customers discover the best seasonal products at affordable prices.

This is the fourth time the popular campaign has appeared in stores across the country. Sarah Austin, marketing manager for New World Retail and Shopper, says customers have been asking for her comeback since 2020, when customers really took the campaign to heart by swapping seeds with each other to get the full set, then sharing tips gardening and cooking with their neighbours. and friends.

“It’s a popular campaign and people really get involved, no matter their age or gardening ability,” she says. “It’s all part of that outdoor Kiwi life that we love to look forward to now as spring approaches, and a great way to get the family enjoying some screen-free activity together.”

Customers will earn a free Little Garden Seedling Kit for every $40 spent online or in-store during the promotion, which runs alongside other ongoing promotions and value offers that New World offers to its customers.

For the first time this year, all Little Garden seeds have been propagated in New Zealand by Kiwi Egmont Seeds.

“We had a wide range of seeds to choose from and made sure we had a good variety of herbs and vegetables, with different colours, nutrients and textures to appeal to the general population,” explains Austin.

She says that it doesn’t matter whether people have large vegetable gardens that they develop every year or grow their seedlings in pots on their balconies, everyone can be part of the fun of the small garden. She thinks the fun factor is part of the success of Little Garden, and people love the 24 new friends that are part of the seedling character suite who all have their own personalities. This year they include Callum Cabbage, Lee Lettuce, Bonnie Broccoli and Chelsea Chive.

There is also a strong value and educational component in addition to the fun. This year, the campaign emphasizes seasonality and encourages customers to think about what is in season for better value for money and a more varied and healthier diet.

“Value is at the forefront of everything we do,” says Austin. “So while the campaign has value on its own because customers get a free seedling, on top of that we have a really great range of promotions in the produce department with specials on vegetables and recipes that pull the best of what’s in season.”

This message will also be sent home with the school children. New World has partnered with the team at Schoolkit to offer a curriculum-based program designed to help children understand seasonality and encourage healthy eating, as well as learn how to plant their own fruits and vegetables. The program will reach more than 125,000 children between the ages of five and eight, and each New World store will donate a Vegepod garden kit to a school in its community.

Brigit Corson, product manager for Foodstuffs North Island, said with the temperatures soaring and the mornings and evenings finally clearing up, it’s the perfect time to celebrate the arrival of all the spring vegetables.

“We had a long, wet winter, which meant leafy greens in particular were very scarce and relatively expensive, but that will change with the new season,” she says.

“The great thing about spring is that everything grows fast, and the vegetables look good and are really tasty.”

Corson says the benefits of eating seasonally are important for our health and our budget and we are lucky in New Zealand to have an abundance of produce grown here.

“In New Zealand, most of the produce we buy is in bulk. It’s not packaged like you see in other markets like the UK. That gives us clues about seasonal food. We know that when asparagus hits the stores, it’s spring, and that summer is almost here when you see stone fruit coming,” she says.

“Our products are incredibly fresh, it’s one of the advantages of being a small island at the end of the world. For example, we are one of the only markets in the world where sweet corn arrives in stores with its bristle pods”. In other markets it is stripped and dry out, but we know how to take care of it here.

Corson says the Little Garden campaign is the perfect way to highlight the hard work of New World growers to ensure the best seasonal produce is available to customers. It’s also a great time to try something new with recipes and tips available in-store to help customers know the best way to cook what’s in season.

Head to your local New World store to get your free Little Garden seedling kit and visit newworld.co.nz/littlegarden for Little Garden recipe inspiration.