INFO ABOUT US
Hi, I am Christina, the owner and creator here at Petals & Co in Taranaki, NZ, where we hand make a variety of natural body & bath products, herbal lotions & potions, home fragrance items, candles, and we grow a variety of dried flowers mainly for petal confetti. Our strong connection to and love of nature is reflected not only in our processes and the way we run the business but also in our personal lives.
So when I say “Our” or “We” I mean myself and my extended family who all have a part to play from helping with product testing to working in the garden. This includes my two wee grandsons who are my Apprentices, they are sometimes helpful but mainly they like to dig... but Nonna will keep them on! We often have four generations of our family harvesting herbs and flowers and it is a beautiful way to spend precious time together and share knowledge and ideas 💡.
ABOUT OUR GARDEN
We grow many of our own herbs 🌿 that we infuse in sunflower oil to use in our balms, lotions & potions, sometimes these are also used in our soaps, we also use them dried in some of our bath products. Herbs we grow are Rosemary, Lavender, Sage, Lemon Balm, Spearmint, Peppermint, Lemongrass, Oregano, Yarrow, Calendula, Chamomile, Plantain & Thyme. Growing our own herbs ensures that we can control the quality of the herbs. We hand harvest at exactly the right time, and dry in accordance with our own methods to retain as much of the medicinal quality of the herbs as possible. We also use the herbs for our own culinary creations and for fresh herbal teas for our visitors.
And then there are the flowers - anything and everything we love - mostly things that will last a long time as a cut flower or flowers that we can dry to sell to floral arrangers or use ourselves in little bunches to sell or give away as a thank you to our customers!
We also grow flowers to make into our increasingly popular petal confettis that are a great eco option for weddings and celebrations.
ABOUT OUR PRODUCTS & PROCESSES
When we say natural we mean as nature intended or as close to as possible with minimal processing and interference. The ingredients we use in our body and bath products are simple, natural and effective. We use garnish provided by nature rather than artificial colours and glitters. We do not use palm oil or animal fats, testing is carried out on friends and family only - we have no shortage of human testers!!
Our products are made using our meticulous methods and high standards. We started our first business Soap-Alicious in 2005, paving the way for the natural handmade soap industry here in Taranaki. In 2008 we were wholesaling to 58 stores throughout New Zealand as well as operating our own retail shop in New Plymouth, those were very busy times.
We do things very differently now at a much slower pace where we can enjoy the process and be more self sufficient with our ingredients and packaging, relying less on others means we have more control over the end product. The increased use of the internet has meant that we can sell directly to customers and our attendance at local markets means that customers can get to see and try our products prior to buying online.
We take so much pride in our products and our exceptional high standards keep customers coming back for more with many of our products selling out at busy times of the year... we can only make so much!
ABOUT OUR STUNNING PACKAGING
From first thought of a new product right through to the final sale (if it makes it that far - not all do of course) every aspect is planned a long the way. When choosing packaging things we consider are the environmental impact of the packaging - both during the manufacturing process and what will become of it after unwrapping, where is it produced - we source locally if possible, look and feel, and cost. Once we have decided on the base packaging we can then add our special unique “touch” or as we say “what shall we garnish that with” - that turns it into something truly special.
We often commission local watercolour artist Joni Murphy who creates many stunning original designs & drawings for us (like all the hand drawn & painted images you see on our website), and the beautiful soap wraps we use, our lovely baby product bunnies etc. Joni is super talented and just “gets” what we are trying to achieve, there is always always that butterfly moment in your tummy when we see the finished designs... We love you Joni 💖.
Our incredibly awesome red Whetu stars ⭐️ we used in our Christmas packaging last year were hand made by Vanessa at Nativeness, our customers absolutely adored them (you can see them in the photo on our slide show). They were SO stunning I gave my Dad one and he put it in his china cabinet... 💕. We encouraged customers to reuse the raffia/whetu star as a Christmas tree ornaments... how awesome is that! Always thinking about life after its unwrapped...
Then there are the fabulous ladies Sue & Jo who crocheted our organic cotton wash cloths for our Christmas range to absolute perfection... I mean these were seriously beautiful and again added that rare and unique touch to the products that made them truly special! 🧶
We love creating packaging so much we are happy to do design and package something just for you, your clients, or your event so don’t hesitate to get in touch.
ABOUT GINNY - Our sweet little caravan has been fully fitted with a stainless steel surfaced product kitchen/lab, including sinks & fridge - WOW so when we are out and about at markets and events we can be demonstrating and producing fresh products to the highest of standards.
We cant wait to start taking Ginny to The Seaside Market where our customers will be able to buy a fresh, warm little pot of something gorgeous we have made on the day! We are also able to hire Ginny out as a mobile bar for your event so get in touch with us for more info on that.