Coles ditches wildly popular Little Shop, Stikeez promotions as part of plastic purge

Shoppers told the retailer Little Shop and Stikeez weren’t a good sustainability look, while Woolworths appears to be reviewing Ooshies.

Little Shop toys are now a thing of the past, with Coles pledging to no longer give away plastic collectables, saying the “very popular” promotion wasn’t aligned with its environmental goals.

Having stopped giving away single-use plastic carry bags in 2018 and recently ceasing sales of single-use plastic tableware, the supermarket giant also reviewed the sustainability of its marketing campaigns, consigning the collectable colourful trinkets to history.

“Part of Coles’ journey to become more sustainable is to look for opportunities to reduce unnecessary plastic,” the company said on Friday.

“Coles will continue to explore reward programs that inspire and offer value to customers, such as the recent MasterChef cookware campaign, which provides practical items for customers to use in their homes, or more sustainable items such as last year’s popular Little Treehouse book series made from FSC certified paper.”

The Stikeez promotion has also been axed, with Coles saying it had listened to customers’ preferences and priorities.

Coles’ Little Shop promotion was wildly popular. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“In a recent survey of 9000 of our customers, reducing waste to landfill and plastic packaging was the number one concern when it comes to environmental issues in retail, with 69 per cent of those surveyed saying it was of high importance to them,” chief marketing officer Lisa Ronson said.

“We know that customers will understand the need to ensure our campaigns are more sustainable for future generations.”

Clean Up Australia chairman Pip Kiernan said it was encouraging to see Coles making meaningful changes.

Meanwhile, rival Woolworths appears to be reviewing the future of its wildly popular Ooshies promotion, which sparked a collecting craze, with “rare” items listed for sale on online marketplaces for thousands of dollars at its height.

Complete sets are now listed for way, way less.

“From Discovery Garden seedlings to glass containers and Disney+ Ooshies, it’s clear our customers enjoy redeeming a variety of engaging collectables simply by shopping at Woolworths,” a spokesman said.

Bizarrely, rare Ooshies were listed for eye-watering prices on online marketplaces at the height of the craze. Picture: Emma Brasier

“We’re always mindful of the environment in our programs, and they’ve become more and more sustainable over the years. That focus will only continue as we plan new programs.

“We remain committed to creating a greener future by switching to renewable energy, reducing food waste and plastic, sustainable sourcing and increasing our energy efficiency.

“We know there is always more to do, and we will continue to work hard on our sustainability efforts across our business.”

Woolworths’ green achievements so far have also included stripping shelves of single-use plastics such as plastic-stemmed cotton tips and plastic straws, and says it was the first national retailer to stop handing out single-use shopping bags nationwide.

Coles has also removed millions of soaker pads from meat trays and promises to use 100 per cent-recycled content for packaging some of its most popular instore bakery items such as cookies, doughnuts, danishes and muffins by the 2022 financial year.