Media Release

South Australians are being urged to ‘shop local’ this Christmas when buying gifts, planning the Christmas day feast or heading to a restaurant or winery during the festive season.

BankSA has teamed up with local restaurateur and MasterChef winner Sashi Cheliah to promote unique gifts and festive ingredients from more than 120 local businesses and to celebrate several of the State’s regional locations.

BankSA State General Manager, Business, Mr David Firth said South Australians have been embracing ‘local’ and supporting the state’s economy over the past 12 months, but many small businesses would be pinning their hopes on a successful pre-Christmas trading period as a catalyst for growth following a couple of difficult years.

“As we head into the important Christmas and summer holiday period, it is even more important to continue to support local and get behind our retail, hospitality and tourism sectors to give them a boost in 2022,” said Mr Firth.

“The good news is our BankSA research shows that small business leaders in South Australia are feeling confident about the future with 82 per cent believing the economy will quickly return to growth as national and local restrictions ease. Around seven in ten businesses are expecting an increase in sales over the next 12 months.

“We all have a great opportunity to kick start that recovery by buying local this Christmas.”

Sashi Cheliah, who won Masterchef Australia in 2018 and now runs his own restaurant, Gaja, in Adelaide, said the local community was only too happy to show its support, and he was keen to do his bit as well.

“South Australian locals try to patronise small businesses and buy local produce,” he said.

“At Gaja, we only stock SA wines, plus I support local craft beers and always focus on fresh ingredients.”

BankSA is supporting more South Australians to shop local this Christmas by publishing the Celebrate SA – BackSA Gift Guide for the third year, which features more than 120 South Australian businesses and almost 350 gift ideas from lifestyle, fashion, toys, beauty, food, wine and leisure.

“We’re actively putting our weight behind local businesses as part of our strategy to back SA and stimulate the local economy at a time when it needs it most,” said Mr Firth.

“We hope that our support, along with the increased intention to spend locally, will help play a part in our COVID recovery and encourage South Australians to spend more on local products and services this Christmas.”

Over 90 per cent of the South Australian gifts featured in the 2021 BackSA Gift Guide are priced under $200 and 70 per cent are priced under $50.

More than 480,000 copies of Celebrate SA, supported by well-known South Australians and business identities, will be available in the Advertiser this Saturday 13 November, along with being stocked in all Foodland supermarkets from November 17, with a digital version also available online.