Do you know where what you buy comes from?




With a seemly ever-growing number of household cleaning, laundry personal care products being added to supermarket shelves, it's no wonder finding the right product can become a little overwhelming at times - especially for those striving to make environmentally-sound shopping choices!

Besides knowing what a product contains, many also consider where it comes from and who ultimately benefit from it's sale. Confusingly many brands give the impression of being 'Australian' simply because they manufacture all or some of their product in Australia - when in fact, many are owned by massive overseas corporations, that in turn, feed money back to their shareholders.

If this is something of concern to you, you might be interested in the following summary I've put together. Given the number of brands on the market now, this is by no means a comprehensive list. However, hopefully you might nonetheless find it of help in your shopping decision making.

Please check back regularly as I continue to update it.

Laundry Brands
  • AWARE 
- Owned by Aware Environmental - Australia
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market.

  • COLD POWER 
- Owned by Henkel - Germany
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • CUDDLY 
- Owned by Colgate-Palmolive – US/India
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • DOMINANT
- Owned by the Short Family - Australia
- Manufactured in Australia - 100% Australian made 
  • DRIVE
- Owned by Unilever – British/Dutch
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • DUO
- Owned by PZ Cussons – UK
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market.

  • DYANMO 
- Owned by Henkel - Germany
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • ECO STORE 
- Owned by Eco Store Company - NZ
- Manufactured in New Zealand for Australian market.

  • FAB 
- Owned by Henkel - Germany
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • NAPISAN 
- Owned by Reckitt Beckinser – UK
- Manufactured in Korea for Australian market. 

  • OMO
- Owned by Unilever – British/Dutch
- Manufactured in New Zealand for Australian market. 

  • PREEN 
- Owned by Reckitt Beckinser – UK
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • RADIANT 
- Owned by PZ Cussons – UK
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market.

  • SPREE 
- Owned by Henkel - Germany
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market. 

  • SURF
- Owned by Unilever – British/Dutch
- Manufactured in New Zealand for the Australian market. 

  • SEVENTH GENERATION 
- Owned by Unilever – British/Dutch
- Manufactured in the US for the Australian market.

  • TRIMAT 
- Owned by Aldi (homebrand) - Germany
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market


Household Cleaning Brands
  • AJAX 
- Owned by Colgate-Palmolive – US/India
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market. 

  • BREF
- Owned by Henkel - Germany
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market.

  • DAWN 
- Owned by Procter & Gamble – USA
- Uncertain where manufactured. 

  • DOMESTOS 
- Owned by Unilever – British/Dutch
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • DOMINANT 
- Owned by the Short Family - Australia
- Manufactured in Australia - 100% Australian made 

  • EARTH CHOICE 
- Owned by Natures Organics - Family Owned-Private Company – Australia
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market. 

  • EASY OFF BAMM 
- Owned by Reckitt Beckinser – UK
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • ECOVER 
- Owned by Ecover – Belgian
- Manufactured in US, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland for various markets. 

  • FAIRY 
- Owned by Procter & Gamble – USA
- Uncertain where manufactured. 

  • FEBREZE 
- Owned by Procter & Gamble – USA
- Uncertain where manufactured. 

  • FINISH 
- Owned by Reckitt Beckinser – UK
- Powder manufactured in Korea, Powerball Tablets manufactured in Germany for Australian market. 

  • JIFF 
- Owned by Unilever – British/Dutch
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • HARPIC 
- Owned by Reckitt Beckinser – UK
- Manufactured in Australia for Australian market. 

  • METHOD 
- Owned by S.C. Johnson & Son – US Family-owned company
- Likely manufactured in the US for the Australian market. 

  • MR MUSCLE
- Owned by S.C. Johnson & Son – US Family-owned company
- Likely manufactured in the US for the Australian market. 

  • MR SHEEN 
- Owned by Reckitt Beckinser – UK
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market. 

  • PINE O CLEAN 
- Owned by Reckitt Beckinser – UK
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market. 

  • SEVENTH GENERATION 
- Owned by Unilever – British/Dutch
- Manufactured in the US for the Australian market. 

  • TOILET DUCK 
- - Owned by S.C. Johnson & Son – US Family-owned company
- Likely manufactured in the US for the Australian market. 

  • WINDEX 
- Owned by S.C. Johnson & Son – US Family-owned company
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market. 


Personal Care Brands
  • AUSTRALIAN PURE 
- Owned by Natures Organics - Family Owned-Private Company – Australia
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market 

  • DETTOL 
- Owned by Reckitt Beckinser – UK
- Manufactured in Australia for the Australian market. 

  • GARNIER FRUCTIS 
- Owned by Loreal – France/Switzerland
- Shampoos and conditioners manufactured in Italy for Australian market.
 
  • JOHNSON'S 
- Owned by Johnson & Johnson – USA
- Uncertain where manufactured.

  • MIA 
- Owned by the Short Family - Australia
- Manufactured in Australia - 100% Australian made 
  • METHOD 
- Owned by S.C. Johnson & Son – US Family-owned company
- Likely manufactured in the US for the Australian market.

  • NATURAL INSTINCT 
- Owned by Mentholatum – Japan
- Uncertain where manufactured.
As you perhaps noted, only a small handful the brands mentioned above are both made here in Australia and owned by Australian companies. Though it may seem to be of insignificance, as discussed in my previous post, How Your Choices as a Consumer Make a Difference, where a product comes from can have a significant impact on the environment long-term, and even on the local economy. Additionally, where you buy your products from can make a difference. Remember, large supermarkets are large for a reason... and not all brands, such as Dominant, are sold through chain-stores for a reason.

If these matters concern you, you might find it of help to head over to the Shop Ethical website. They have a fun interactive chart that explores in more detail market share for an even wider range of products. Plus, if you're keen you might like to do your own research about the various products you use on a daily basis with their handy keyword search feature. = )



* Information Sources:

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