News

We are so lucky to have such amazing mummy bloggers test out our products and give us their honest feedback. So with that being said this week we have a Munch Produce Bags Review for you all from Hannah from Raising The Rutlands so make sure you click here to check it out.

With Plastic Free July being well and truly done we still look at plastic alternatives and how we can replace those pesky single use bags. So we brought out our Munch Produce Bag. These produce bags are really stretchy so you can store heaps of produce in them. They are also super strong so you don’t need to worry abut the bags ripping and your tomatoes going all over the ground getting squashed and bruised. These produce bags are super easy to clean as well! So on the off chance you leave a mandarin in them from your weekly shop and the mandarin goes mouldy you simply can just chuck the produce bags in the washing machine and that’s it. Simply dry and you’re sorted!

In Hannah’s review of the Munch Produce Bags she says “The Munch Produce Bags take up hardly any space so I keep them in my bag at all times. Now I just couldn’t be without them as I use them almost every time I’m at the supermarket! I’m not an eco warrior by any means, but I truly believe everyone can make one or two small changes towards using less plastic. I love that there are companies like Munch that are working towards making reusable practical products for families.”

Other great parts from these produce bags that I love are all the different bright colours. They stand out so you never forget them plus they are super light weight so you don’t need to worry about that added weight when it comes to weighing your produce. These bags are also extremely breathable! You can keep fruit and vege in the bags in then fridge and not have to worry about them going bad at all. If you want to grab yourself a pair of these amazing produce bags then click here.

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As you know we are all about sustainability here at Munch Cupboard. Which leads me to our Eco Hero range and in this case the Eco Hero toddler cup. Our Munch Eco Hero Toddler cup is made from Rice Husk, which is a by-product of the rice industry. Because the Eco Hero range is made from Rice Husks this makes them completely biodegradable meaning you can chuck it in the compost once you’re done. Simple as that. Why am I talking about the Eco Hero Toddler cup you may ask? Well, we have another amazing Eco Hero Toddler Cup review. We are lucky enough to have the amazing Kristen from the Southern Chicken Lady review our Eco Hero Toddler Cup. So, what did Kristen have to say?

 “We even use water in ours after she’s had her cup of juice for the day. The mouth piece is soft silicone which is easy to sip from and easy to clean. Some sippy cups we’ve purchased before are made of hard plastic and you can never get to those tiny crevices to clean thoroughly so this was really nice to discover how soft the spout is”. Kristen is right about the silicon tip. The soft silicon spout promotes natural drinking action which is amazing for healthy oral development. Kids only need to use minimal pressure when drinking which means they won’t damage their teeth or soft palates.

She also had this to say about the Eco Hero Toddler cup “One you won’t just throw out days or weeks after purchasing because it broke or you can’t get it clean so you choose to toss it out. Toddlers can be very messy when it comes to food and drinks ( I know mine were very messy at times), this cup makes it easy to clean, use and is eco-friendly. It’s a win, win!”. We completely agree with Kristen here as she is completely right! These cups are made to last and we absolutely love them ourselves

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As we all know we here at Munch Cupboard are an eco-friendly social enterprise that produce high quality sustainable eco products for the whole family. We have three key aspects that we stand firmly by and they are the following:

Sustainable Motherhood workforce: we know how hard it can be getting back into work whilst being a mumma so we aim to help mummas get back out there. All but one of our staff are mummas and we could not be prouder.

Eco-friendly products: We strive to provide eco-friendly, unique products with strong design elements.

Advocates-Stand Up: We here at Munch aim to be strong advocates for our children. We run the Munch Awards each year which raise awareness for the good and bad in the kid’s food industry. We strive for a world without plastic, hence is why we brought out our Munch Produce Bags. To read more about issues we are involved in head to our stand-up page.

We are so unbelievably thrilled and honoured that we have been nominated for the ‘Hard Wired for Social Good’ category at the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards 2018. We are up against some other amazing companies but really are so honoured to be one of the finalists.

So what are the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards?

As stated on the website “The Awards recognise and celebrate success in sustainability”. These awards have been running for 16 years and it is all about celebrating the contributions that businesses and individuals contribute to transforming New Zealand. The ‘Hard Wired for Social Good’ award, we are nominated for, focuses on “an organisation that is deliberately and consistently improving people’s lives through its day to day business practices. Social good is integrated throughout the whole organisation.”

The awards are held on the 22^ndNovember 2018 and we are lucky enough to attend. Of course we would love to win this amazing award but we are just so honoured to be a finalist. To read more about the awards click here

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Tasha tells us about her experiences of the Munch Reusable Sandwich Wraps. 

Tasha is a thirty something working mama living in Wellington, New Zealand.  Her family comes from Gibraltar, husband Keith comes from Essex and she has lived on several continents.  Her blog used to be called The Maybe Diaries, and began in 2008 as a way to stop her going insane while she was trying (and failing) to start a family. In 2009 she had our son Alfie, and her daughters Esme in 2011 and Olive in 2013. None of them were born the way she had hoped. None of them were fed in the way she had hoped and there started her real life lesson in what it means to be a parent.  Her blog has recently changed its name to Wondersouly Other.

This is what Tasha had to say about the Munch Reusable Sandwich Wraps:

“Considering the simplicity of their construction, sandwiches can be tricky beasts, especially when made in advance and carried to a school or office.

Use cling wrap and your sandwich will develop a slightly clammy feel; use tinfoil and it will be dry. Use wax paper and string and you’ll spend your evenings feeling you are trying to wrestle a cat into a tutu.

I agreed to review the Munch Reusable Food & Sandwich Wrap in the hope that it would solve my sandwich protection dilemmas in an eco friendly, and very attractive way.

The Munch Reusable Food & Sandwich Wrap is great for wrapping anything that is roughly square shaped; sandwiches, wraps cut in half, pita breads, rolls and bagels all fit snugly and can be safely installed into a lunchbox.

My son, always one to favour the theatrical, has fallen in love with our tester and now requests wraps for his school lunch rather than his previous staple of pasta. I suspect this is in part because the Munch Reusable Food & Sandwich Wrap lends a real sense of occasion to lunchtimes.

The combination of colourful design and easy close Velcro means that to all intents and purposes my son has the lunch equivalent of a birthday present to unwrap at school. The wipe clean inner transforms into a handy plate substitute once the sandwich has been unwrapped and come the end of the meal, the entire thing can be roughly folded and brought home for further use without leaving any waste.

The only limitation to the Munch Reusable Food & Sandwich Wrap is that it wraps to a single size and shape. I’m not sure I know anyone who determinedly supplies their children with long, narrow lunches, but if you are one such parent, this might not be the product for you.”

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EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women, what is it?

The beginning of the year is a time to buy stock and plan for the next. It really is not a time to do some personal development. Having said that, you do not get much time for personal development, when you run your own business, as you are just running! Unlike the ole corporate days when it is always available.  Also you always try to look after your amazing team and the business generally before anything else.

Anyhow a lovely lady from Ernst Young asked me to apply for the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Awards. She chased me a few times, as I have been so focused on getting money into the door rather than spending time on my development. Anyhow she was so persistent, thankfully, that I did apply and I got it in.

The EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Awards – New Zealand programme is an executive leadership programme that identifies a select group of high-potential women entrepreneurs whose businesses show real potential to upscale — and helps them do it. It is designed for women with established businesses who are ready to upscale operations and grow to become global market leaders.

Our annual EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women Awards – programme brings entrepreneurial winning women together to meet with a diverse and experienced community of successful entrepreneurs, board executives, industry leaders, and professionals who work with entrepreneurs around the world.

Many programmes focus on helping women to start a business. Entrepreneurial Winning Women is focused on accelerating growth for businesses that have moved beyond start-up.

We provide practical strategies and an action plan to ensure your growth is both ambitious and built on a solid foundation. This is a hands-on workshop, focused on sharing knowledge and insights from successful entrepreneurs, to motivate and inspire you to take your business growth plans to a whole new level by:

Thinking big and being bold
Building a public profile
Working on the business rather than in it
Establishing key advisory networks
Evaluating finance options for expansion

To be selected for the New Zealand EY Entrepreneurial Winning Woman Award, you must meet the following criteria:

Woman business owners
Minimum of NZ$1m in sales in each of the last 2 years
The business has the potential to grow substantially

I meet some amazing women from mainly service based industries such as a gaming company, HR company, ex sports Olympian, medical services, charities and many more.  Over the time we all talked about our businesses and set the discussion against 7 Drivers of Growth.  A big thank you to EY for providing such a course and inviting me to attend.

Now fun time is over, back to business as usual!!

Anna

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