Partnership with Aussie recycler makes collectibles more sustainable
From Wednesday, Coles and Coles Express are bringing back the hugely popular Fresh Stikeez collectibles campaign, including a brand-new national healthy eating program to help Aussie parents get their kids to eat a nutritious balanced diet.
Stikeez Fresh Friends features 24 new characters inspired once again by fresh fruit and veggies – but this year Coles is adding a whole fridge full of fun including characters from different food groups like dairy, proteins and grains.
The collectibles form part of the Coles Fresh 5 Challenge which encourages kids to eat all the Five Food Groups daily by introducing a ‘reward’ system. Endorsed by the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, the Coles Fresh 5 Challenge allows children to track the different food groups they have tried by adding a Stikeez to the corresponding item on a specially-designed placemat available free from Coles supermarkets. The number of serves is based on recommendations set by the Australian Dietary Guidelines.[1]
Parents and kids at Westfield Eastgardens today were given a special sneak peek of the new collection:
Chief Marketing Officer Lisa Ronson said that Stikeez collectibles, including those customers have from last year, can now be recycled at all Coles supermarkets and will be repurposed into useful products including anti-fatigue mats for Coles stores.
“Customers have told us they use Stikeez as a fun tool to encourage kids to eat more types of fresh foods – our research showed that 31 per cent of customers who collected the first Stikeez range increased their purchases of fruit and vegetables and 50 per cent bought a wider variety of fresh produce,” she said.
“Kids who had never touched broccoli or tasted a fresh tomato found it fun to challenge themselves to eat foods of all colours of the rainbow.
“We wanted to bring Stikeez and a healthy eating initiative back but in a more sustainable way. Customers can now return any duplicate, old and spare Stikeez back to Coles supermarkets to be recycled. They’re also wrapped in responsibly sourced paper that’s fully recyclable in kerbside recycling bins at home.”
Save Our Soles founder John Elliott said Stikeez will be recycled through the same process he has used to recycle footwear in Australia since 2010.
“It’s really good to see Australians care so much about reducing waste and we are delighted to be working with Coles to find another purpose for Stikeez that customers no longer have use for,” he said.
“We have just launched a sporting industry recycling program with the Australia Sporting Goods Association and anticipate that we will save approximately 250,000 pairs of sports shoes going to landfill in 2020.
“It’s great news that Stikeez can be recycled in the same way. We reduce the product to a 4mm crumb, then mixed with recycled Australian tyres to create products like anti-fatigue mats, gym matting, retail flooring and carpet underlay.”
The Stikeez characters have been given some of the most popular Aussie kids’ names such as Abby Avocado, Benji Bread, Chloe Cauliflower, Ella Eggs and Will Walnut, and customers can collect one Stikeez at the check-out for every $30 they spend in one transaction at Coles Supermarkets, Coles Express and Coles Online[2].
Coles customers can pick up the Coles Fresh 5 Challenge placemats for free in the fresh produce department at Coles supermarkets, while stocks last, or
