A Buy New Zealand campaign was launched seemingly a generation ago to support local manufacturers facing cheap competition from overseas.
Sadly for manufacturers, deregulation and the removal of tariffs by successive governments saw the demise of the clothing and footwear industries so prominent in Dunedin in the 1980s. But happily for consumers, the price of goods made overseas tumbled.
Families on low to medium incomes found their budgets could stretch further as cheaper goods flooded in from overseas.
Large retail chains, while maintaining a component of the Buy New Zealand philosophy, offer discounted goods on sale, every weekend.
Whiteware, kitchen appliances and lounge suites made overseas are sold in increasing numbers as the economy sees a return to something resembling what Kiwis are used to - spending disposable income.
The competition between two Australian supermarket chains - Coles and Woolworths - to see which can become the ''most Australian'' has ruffled more than a few feathers in the last few days.
The Australian supermarkets are dropping New Zealand-made products, even if an alternative cannot be sourced locally.
Concerns are increasing about whether the patriotic shut-out on foreign goods could expand to more product lines.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to intervene in the supermarket situation after Prime Minister John Key raised the issue in a high-level meeting in Sydney.
Mr Key said the shut-out of New Zealand products appeared to breach the spirit, if not the terms, of the transtasman closer economic relations (CER) agreement.
Mr Abbott said affected companies could make a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
It is unlikely Mr Abbott will make any move to criticise the supermarket chains, especially with his poll ratings slumping.
Since his election, Mr Abbott has consistently promoted himself as a dinkum Aussie bloke, and given his rural coalition partners will not want to lose voter support, no intervention will be forthcoming.
In one of the bluntest assessments of the situation, Talleys joint managing director Michael Talley said his company had exported 900 tonnes of frozen spinach a year to Australia until it was blocked.
Australian outlets no longer had the items in their brand range because there was no Australian producer.
Items being included in the ''buy only Australian'' policy were being expanded by the day and the company's meat, fish, vegetables and shredded cheese products had been excluded, he said.
Perhaps sadly, Australia has the benefit of a much larger list of suppliers than New Zealand, and it makes no sense at all to follow a similar ban of imported goods for New Zealand supermarkets.
Countdown, in New Zealand, is owned by Woolworths and often, its branded products are Australian-made.
Consumers here make their own choices, but the plethora of countries supplying us with fruit, meat and general produce would make sourcing purely New Zealand-made products difficult.
During winter, New Zealanders would be forced to do without (or face huge increases in prices of) items now considered staples, such as tomatoes, without Australian imports.
It is worth the effort, however, to ensure Kiwi producers keep producing.
Therefore, the best response is likely to be a buy New Zealand philosophy that encourages local buying but does not exclude foreign produce.
New Zealanders have become used to choice, and lower prices.
Food inflation has fallen or remained static for several quarters, and any attempt at retaliation by our supermarkets would be detrimental to households.
The Australian campaign is unlikely to last long, as consumers there find some of their choices becoming limited.
However, until then, New Zealand producers and politicians must simply rely on making their cases public, in the knowledge Australian supermarkets - and consumers - will hear the message and then may rethink their strategies.
