Coles Little Shop collectables will no longer be available to shoppers

Coles’ hugely anticipated Little Shop collectables will now be a thing of the past as the supermarket giant announces it will no longer give away plastic toys as part of its sustainability strategy.

The collectables featured miniature replicas of some of Australia’s most iconic grocery products – including Vegemite, Nutella, Tim Tams, Weet-Bix, Arnott’s Shapes, Heinz Baked Beans, Tip Top bread and Campbell’s tomato soup.

The campaign has been a huge hit among thousands of shoppers across the country since launching in 2018, with dedicated Facebook groups and ‘swap day’ events set up so parents and children alike can meet up and trade to complete their collection.

Coles chief marketing officer Lisa Ronson said while collectible toy programs like Little Shop and Stikeez have been popular with customers, they no longer align with the chain’s sustainability ambitions or with shoppers’ preferences and priorities. 

The campaign has been a huge hit among shoppers across Australia since launching in 2018

‘Coles has been in the lives and homes of Australians for more than 100 years and our unique position in Australia comes with responsibility,’ Ms Ronson said.

‘As part of our Together to Zero mission, we’ve been reviewing our marketing campaigns through a sustainability lens. While very popular, we must listen to our customers who say their priorities are changing. 

‘Our ambition is to be Australia’s most sustainable supermarket which means we need to be committed to reducing unnecessary plastic, and this extends throughout our business. 

‘We are committed to innovating when it comes to packaging so that where we can’t eliminate packaging and plastic, we are ensuring it’s contributing to the circular economy by being produced with recycled content where possible, as well as being recyclable.’

In previous years, thousands of shoppers flocked to their supermarket store on ‘swap day’ – an event set up for collectors to meet up and trade so they can complete their collection

The collectables featured miniature replicas of some of Australia’s most iconic grocery products – including Vegemite, Nutella, Tim Tams, Weet-Bix, Arnott’s Shapes, Heinz Baked Beans, Tip Top bread and Campbell’s tomato soup

Part of the supermarket’s journey to become more sustainable is to look for opportunities to reduce unnecessary plastic. 

The collectable toys comes just weeks after Coles removed disposable tableware products including cutlery, cups, plates, bowls and straws from its shelves.

In a bid to make packaging more sustainable, Coles has removed 31 million soaker pads from meat trays this year. This means 31 million soaker pads not being sent to landfill.

The chain will close the loop on the packaging of some of its most popular in-store bakery items by committing to have them made with 100 per cent recycled content in the financial year of 2022, in addition to already being fully recyclable at kerbside.

The change will apply to 60 million pieces of packaging each year on in-store bakery products like cookies, donuts, danishes and muffins. 

Instead, the packaging will be made from 100 per cent Recycled PET, a sustainable solution that also requires less energy to manufacture per kilogram than virgin PET, further contributing to a decrease in the environmental footprint.