Updated 4:30pm Friday 10 March 2023

Foodstuffs North Island Announces Plan to Support Growers and Partners to Recover from Cyclone Gabrielle

Foodstuffs North Island, the 100% New Zealand owned and operated co-operative behind PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square has announced a plan to help growers and partners to rebuild after Cyclone Gabrielle. The plan includes a commitment of $250,000 in the form of targeted assistance for affected regions and an offer of early payment to affected suppliers to help with immediate cash flow.

Chris Quin, Chief Executive of Foodstuffs North Island said: "The impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on some of our growers and partners has been really significant and we’re committed to supporting them as they recover and rebuild. Our plan aims to provide immediate relief and longer-term support to help growers and partners get back on their feet. Together, we can rebuild and come back stronger.”

The first point of the plan is a commitment to provide $250,000 in funding to assist growers impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. This funding will be coordinated by Foodstuffs North Island’s Here for NZ team and will focus on supporting growers in Northland, Coromandel, Gisborne, and Hawkes Bay. Foodstuffs North Island will partner with industry groups from hard hit areas to provide support for rebuilding and recovery.

Secondly, Foodstuffs North Island will provide early payment to growers and partners to accelerate cash flow and help them meet immediate expenses.

Quin said: "We want to get the support into the hands of our growers and suppliers who need it the most, as quickly as possible. Our support can be used for any number of activities including cleaning up, replacing and hiring equipment, paying for temporary labour, and providing workers with support payments or wages. Our suppliers are telling us what they need now is cash flow, so by paying suppliers early, we’re accelerating cash flow and getting the money into their pockets faster so they can put it to work.”

“Whether you’re growing, farming or running supermarkets, it’s all about the people. Our category and store teams work really closely daily with local producers. We know there’s still plenty to do to help communities recover and we want to provide reassurance that we’re in it for the long term.”

The aim is to meet the needs of many suppliers and growers while they work with insurance providers and other funding support mechanisms. The co-op will partner with industry groups who can determine how best the contribution can be distributed within their group.

Foodstuffs North Island will focus its support on enabling suppliers to get back up and running quickly and rebuilding communities. Federated Farmers will receive an initial $50,000 for support of the Farmy Army an organisation helping to clean up the Hawke's Bay. Horticulture NZ will receive an initial $50,000 to support their grower relief fund and Rural Support Trust will receive an initial $50,000, with the final $100,000 to be allocated based on need.

Foodstuffs North Island has made a commitment to be Here for New Zealand and the plan for growers and suppliers is part of a promise to support local communities to thrive. The package is the latest initiative from the co-op to support communities affected by the extreme weather and follows:

 

Foodstuffs North Island remains committed to supporting affected communities as they recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

 

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Updated Thursday 2 March 2023

PAK’nSAVE Donates Over Half a Million to Help Communities Recover from Cyclone Gabrielle

PAK’nSAVE Owner Operators from across the North Island have donated over $575,000 to help communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. The donation will go towards supporting the relief and recovery efforts of local charities and organisations in the areas worst affected by the cyclone. The donation follows a destructive period of extreme weather that caused widespread damage and disruption to many communities in the North Island. PAK’nSAVE recognised the urgent need for support and responded to the call for help.

Lance Gerlach, Owner Operator of PAK’nSAVE Westgate in Auckland said: “The damage experienced across the North Island is just terrible and our thoughts are with all those families and communities who are suffering. All of our stores are locally owned and operated, we’ve got whole teams who’ve been affected, and we’ve got fellow co-op grocers affected, some have worked around the clock to reopen their stores for their communities. Seeing it all unfold, we just wanted to do something to help so we set about enlisting the personal support of the whole network of North Island PAK’nSAVEs and here we are.”

“Our donation will help to provide much needed support to those affected by the cyclone and extreme weather, and that our contribution will make a meaningful difference as everyone focusses on the road to recovery.”

Every locally owned PAK’nSAVE has a direct link to at least one foodbank, food rescue, or social supermarket partner and has been working with its partners and other community organisations and charities to support them in the wake of the recent Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. 

The donation will be distributed by the Foodstuffs HereforNZ team who are finalising plans to distribute the funds to the communities worst affected through established and new community partners.

The donation from PAK’nSAVE will be added to the $335,000 worth of product, or cash funding that’s already been provided by Foodstuffs North Island to support the immediate need of community partners, bringing the total provided by the co-op to over $900,000 so far.

Foodstuffs North Island has also partnered with Whakarongorau Aotearoa // New Zealand Telehealth Services, to help ensure those impacted and affected know there’s free, 24x7 mental health support available by calling or texting 1737, the national mental health helpline.

Foodstuffs has also enabled customers to donate directly to the Red Cross New Zealand Disaster Fund through instore posters and QR codes across its 550 stores throughout the North Island and the South Island. 

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Updated 4pm Tuesday, 28 February 2023

Foodstuffs Enables Customers to Donate to Red Cross at Stores

Foodstuffs, the 100% New Zealand owned and operated co-operative behind PAK’nSAVE, New World, Four Square, Raeward Fresh and On the Spot has enabled customers to donate to Red Cross New Zealand at its stores, following Cyclone Gabrielle. The co-operative's 550+ stores will be displaying posters in store with QR codes, so customers can easily donate to the Red Cross New Zealand’s Disaster Fund.

Cyclone Gabrielle brought strong winds, heavy rain and flooding to the North Island, causing loss of life, damage to homes, businesses and crops. Since the cyclone hit, Foodstuffs teams have worked around the clock to send in Starlinks, generators and specialist support to affected areas to reopen its 33 affected stores. The co-operative has been providing affected communities with access to essential products and has used trucks, Unimog’s, boats and helicopters to deliver product to its stores.

At the same time, Foodstuffs HereforNZ team has pledged over $365,000 worth of product, or cash funding, to support those in immediate need. Over the next week, the co-op will be increasing its support as it works with its community partners while enabling customers to show their support too.

Chris Quin, Managing Director of Foodstuffs New Zealand said: "With so many New Zealanders impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle and the recent Auckland flooding, we’ve been mucking in to help the country recover. Customers have asked us to get behind Red Cross New Zealand and we’re happy to use our systems and network of 550+ stores to support the critical work they’re doing to deliver vital assistance and relief to those in need."

Foodstuffs stores across New Zealand are displaying posters in store promoting the Red Cross’s New Zealand Disaster Fund alongside a QR code. Customers can scan the QR code while they shop and donate using their mobile device. When a customer scans the QR code on their phone, they’re taken to the Red Cross’s New Zealand Disaster fund webpage where they can donate.

Quin also emphasised the importance of community support during times of crisis. "As a co-operative, we’re driven by the principle of working together for the greater good. We believe that by coming together as a community, we can make a real difference in the lives of those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle."

To donate to the Red Cross while you shop, look out for the QR code posters at PAK’nSAVE, New World, Four Square, On the Spot, Gilmours, Raeward Fresh and Trents stores across New Zealand.

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Updated 4.30pm Saturday, 25 February 2023

Foodstuffs Partners with Whakarongorau Aotearoa to Promote the 1737 National Mental Health Helpline

In response to the distress caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and the ongoing bad weather, Foodstuffs, the 100% New Zealand owned and operated co-operative behind PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square, has partnered with Whakarongorau Aotearoa // New Zealand Telehealth Services, to help ensure those impacted and affected know free, 24x7 mental health support is available by calling or texting 1737, the national mental health helpline.

Chris Quin, Managing Director of Foodstuffs New Zealand says: "We understand events like Cyclone Gabrielle and the ongoing bad weather can cause significant stress and anxiety for individuals and communities. That's why we're partnering with Whakarongorau Aotearoa, to remind people that support, and advice is available, and how to access it when they’re ready."

“If someone is feeling stressed or overwhelmed, we want them to know there’s free, specialist support available, so for our stores in affected areas, we’ve added messages promoting 1737 to our till receipts, we’re running announcements over instore speaker systems and we’re promoting the service via our Facebook pages and over email.”

The 1737 service provides free, confidential support for anyone feeling distressed, overwhelmed, or anxious. By calling or texting 1737, people can connect with a trained counsellor who can provide support, advice, and ideas to help manage stress and anxiety, and what’s happening for them right now.

Glynis Sandland, Acting Chief Executive of Whakarongorau Aotearoa said: “The impact of Cyclone Gabrielle is far reaching.  Just as important as physical and practical support is providing psychosocial support, for people’s wellbeing. With the help of Foodstuffs, we’re ensuring people know that if they, or someone they know, needs mental wellbeing support or advice they can call or text 1737 anytime.”

"The 1737 team can support people and their whānau during this difficult time" added Sandland.

For more information on the 1737 helpline, visit www.1737.org.nz.

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Updated 1.30pm Wednesday, 22 February 2023

Foodstuffs reaches major milestone in Cyclone Recovery. All PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square stores are open and stock is regularly getting through by road

Foodstuffs North Island, the 100% New Zealand owned and operated co-operative behind PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square in the North Island is pleased to announce all its affected stores have successfully reopened following the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Cyclone Gabrielle brought strong winds, heavy rain and flooding to the North Island, causing loss of life, damage to homes, businesses and crops. When the Cyclone hit, Foodstuffs North Island had 33 stores that were unable to open.

Chris Quin, Chief Executive of Foodstuffs North Island said: "Our thoughts remain with all those who continue to be affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, our teams have done an incredible job getting all the affected stores open. We’re now delivering stock by road to all stores, except Four Square Tokomaru Bay, where we’re continuing to deliver stock by helicopter. The safety of our customers and our teams is always our top priority, and we took the necessary steps to ensure our stores were safe to re-open.”

“Having seen the devastation first hand, I’ve got so much respect and admiration for the hard work of our owner operators, truck drivers, team members, support teams, business and supplier partners. Given the cyclone struck a week ago, it’s a big milestone to have all our stores open and its testament to the dedication, commitment and culture we have here at Foodies.”

The final store to re-open was Four Square Taradale in Napier. With the area being evacuated on Tuesday, 14 February, the store was without power and unable to trade for a week before regaining access to mains power on Tuesday, 21 February.

“Getting all the stores open and serving our communities is just the beginning, we want New Zealanders to know we’re fully committed to supporting the recovery from here. I’m proud of our team's response to the cyclone, we’ve had team members chartering helicopters to fly in product, Waka Kai has been on the water delivering essentials to isolated communities in the Coromandel, our IT team has been flying in Starlink kits to restore connectivity and our truck drivers have shown great bravery delivering through the storm. We’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during this time.”

Foodstuffs North Island has a long-standing commitment of supporting local communities and being HereforNZ and one of our promises is to make sure every New Zealander has access to food. Every locally owned New World and PAK’nSAVE has a direct link to at least one foodbank, food rescue, or social supermarket partner and we’ve been working with them and other community organisations and charities to honour this promise in the wake of the recent Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.  

In the last few weeks, our HereforNZ team has donated over $335,000 worth of product, or cash funding to support the immediate need and in the coming days, we’ll be increasing our support as we work with our community partners.

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Updated 10am Sunday, 19 February 2023

Our thoughts continue to be with all with the families of the people who’ve lost their lives due to Cyclone Gabrielle, those who’ve lost their homes and property and who aren’t able to reach their families and loved ones.  We were deeply saddened by the tragic passing of one of our team members, Marie Greene, who worked on checkout at New World Greenmeadows in Napier.  Marie lost her life at home due to the cyclone.  

We’re getting to all but one of our stores by road now, New World Wairoa has received two large deliveries, which was really reassuring for the community and gratefully received.  The only store we can’t get to by road right now is Four Square Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast, 91km north of Gisborne - we’ll continue to get essentials to the store by helicopter until we can reach the store with a truck.  We’d like to say a huge thank you to all our drivers who’ve gone above and beyond, battling through in the most extreme of circumstances to make sure we can get the essentials through. 

All PAK’nSAVE and New World stores are open nationwide, we have a couple of Four Squares not yet able to open and they’re in communities where there are other larger shopping options.  We’re asking customers in the worst affected areas to continue to only buy what they need, so everyone can get their fair share when they shop, if there’s a gap on the shelf at the store, know there’s more stock on its way.   

Now all PAK’nSAVE and New World stores are open, shoppers in the Hawkes Bay cities and suburbs of Hastings and Napier are encouraged to shop at their local store, this will help even out the load between all the stores. 

Foodstuffs stores are 100% New Zealand owned and operated, we have a long-term commitment to be HereforNZ and one of our promises is to make sure every New Zealander has access to food.  Every locally owned New World and PAK’nSAVE has a direct link to at least one foodbank, food rescue, or social supermarket partner and we’ve been working with them and other community organisations and charities to honour this promise in the wake of the recent Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.  In the last few weeks, our HereforNZ team has pledged over $300,000 worth of product, or cash funding to support the immediate need and in the next week, we’ll be increasing our support as we work with our community partners. 

We’d like to say a huge thank you to our teams, supplier partners, communities, absolutely everyone who’s pulled together to help get all the stores affected by the cyclone back up and running.   It’s a really stressful time so we’re asking to please remember to be respectful to each other and our team members when you shop with us, we’re all going through a lot and we’re in this together.  Kia kaha, take care.  

 

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Updated 4.30pm Saturday, 18 February 2023

Foodstuffs North Island Sends IT Support in by Helicopter to Deploy Starlink Kits to Reopen Supermarkets Cut Off by Cyclone Gabrielle.

In the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, severe flooding and road slips have isolated several towns in the Coromandel, East Cape, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay regions.  Four Squares, New Worlds and PAK’nSAVEs in the affected areas were struggling to maintain business continuity due to disruptions to business-critical systems and electronic payment platforms. In response to this urgent need, Foodstuffs North Island’s IT team and its partners have deployed Starlink kits, satellite-based internet solutions, to help affected stores open for business and to continue serving their communities. 

Each Starlink kits consists of a small satellite dish that can be quickly and easily installed on the roof of each supermarket. Once installed, the dishes can connect to the Starlink satellite network, providing a reliable and high-speed internet connection that’s essential for EFTPOS units at the checkouts. Online connection to a bank’s system is a requirement of every modern chip and pin card and the internet’s also essential for back of house ordering, reporting, pricing functions and enabling fuel sites to open.  

Simon Kennedy, Chief Digital Officer for Foodstuffs North Island explains: “Everyone relies on access to groceries, so our stores play an essential role in their communities right across the North Island. Our owner operators are local people and are personally affected by the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, and all our people have a sense of responsibility and want to be open in times of need. Our IT team is committed to providing our owner operators with the support they need to get their stores open so their communities can get their groceries during what is an extremely difficult time for everyone.” 

“Starlink kits allow us to quickly deploy IT solutions to isolated stores, enabling them to access critical systems.  As Cyclone Gabrielle approached, we positioned the Starlinks, and other spare equipment, in locations close to where the weather impact was forecast to be most extreme.  Since the cyclone hit, our IT team has been working around the clock to configure and deploy kits to affected stores” added Kennedy. 
 
Having first used Starlink kits only a month ago, the Foodstuffs team had to rapidly conceive, build, test and then prove a viable solution under the most challenging of situations. The task of configuring the Starlink kits fell to the team of Campbell Mander, Head of IT Operations and Security for Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs partners Datacom, Wordline, Windcave and EFTPOS Now.  
 
Campbell Mander said: “These days people tend to use the internet for everything and it’s not too different for our stores. When they lose connectivity, they’re very limited by what they can do. Working with our vendors, we got additional Starlink kits, set them up, got some EFTPOS pin pads, set those up for specific stores and then got them distributed to cut off stores through our field engineering network. Starlinks are quick and easy to set up for a basic internet connection but using them to support a full supermarket operation is a little different.  It’s a bit like trying to power a whole house with just a couple of AA batteries, but we have found a way.”

“Our store networks are a very complex setup that enables all the required IT services to work cleanly for each store. We’ve recently deployed a new generation of networks to our stores and the crisis has forced our team to condense what would normally take weeks, into the space of just a few days. It’s been a huge team task and I can’t explain how proud I am of everyone.”

Getting the configured Starlinks out to stores required working with multiple field teams and was led by Carl Layton, User Technology Manager for Foodstuffs North Island who said: “With our usual courier service unavailable we’ve had our IT technicians transport the kits across the North Island to get to the right stores. There’s always going to be nerves sending our technicians into isolated areas without cell phone coverage. We’ve had to test, test again and then hope for the best. Being flown in by choppers over the devastation caused by a cyclone is not the normal day for an IT technician.”

The deployment of the Starlink kits has been met with tremendous relief and gratitude from the affected store owners.  Sam Wanklyn, Owner Operator of Four Square Wainui Road in Gisborne said: “We’re still cut off here in Gisborne. My store lost connectivity at 4am on Tuesday which meant we couldn’t trade. By 10am Wednesday the team had flown in a Starlink kit and IT technician and had gotten us back online and operational. It’s meant we’ve been able to open our doors and provide groceries to our community when they’ve really needed it. We’re starting to get more stock through now and the feedback from the community is that everyone is pretty happy being able to get the essentials.”

To date, Foodstuffs North Island has been able to deploy Starlink kits to PAK’nSAVE Gisborne, New World Wairoa, Four Square Wainui Road, Four Square Tokomaru Bay, Four Square Eastern, Four Square Ruatoria and Four Square Waimamaku. 

Foodstuffs North Island remains committed to supporting affected communities as they recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. The deployment of Starlink kits is just one example of the ongoing efforts to help these communities get back on their feet.

 

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Updated 6.30pm Friday, 17 February 2023

Today we’re deeply saddened by the passing of one of our team members, Marie Greene, who lost her life at home as a result of the cyclone. Marie worked on the checkouts at New World Greenmeadows and was a generous and kind people-person who was much loved by her team-mates. We’re heartbroken for Marie’s family, friends and everyone who knew and loved her.

New World Greenmeadows Owner Operator Iain Beaton says: “Marie was a much loved member of our checkout team and will be greatly missed.”

There’s a long journey ahead for communities hit hard by Cyclone Gabrielle. As well as looking out for each other at this really sad time, our priority is to make sure everyone has access to essential groceries and to support the recovery where we can make the most difference.

We’ve set up our emergency HereforNZ fund to react quickly to what communities need and are partnering with local food banks, food rescue and other community groups to provide support, by way of product donation, so they can keep their shelves full and get food and essentials to where they’re needed most. For example, we contributed $20k to Super Grans, a local foodbank in Tairawhiti/Gisborne. We’re doing this through our locally owned and operated stores and so far, we’ve provided over $300k in support for flood and cyclone impacted communities and individuals. We want to thank all our partners for their hard mahi – we love partnering with you all and you’re doing incredible work.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to all our teams, suppliers and business partners who’ve been working tirelessly to make sure essential supplies can reach affected areas. Yesterday we got deliveries by truck into several communities that have been isolated including Gisborne, Tairua and today, Ruatoria. 

Over the last few days drivers have braved very challenging conditions like slips, fallen trees on roads and flood waters, on occasion coming up to window height. At times drivers were having to leave their vehicles to clear trees and debris from the roads so they can continue their journey and get supplies into stores. Just some of the heroics that so many people have displayed.

Our brand-new Cross Dock in Hastings is just a few weeks old and has proved invaluable as a staging point from where we’ve been able to coordinate our deliveries. Yesterday and today has seen us shift 40 pallets of stock and Starlink kits by helicopter to isolated communities like Wairoa, Tokomaru Bay, Tologa Bay and Ruatoria. 

Some Coromandel communities have been getting deliveries from Waka Kai - New World Whitianga’s delivery boat which has been out and about over the last few days delivering to places hard to access via road across the greater Coromandel region -  Cooks Beach, Hahei, Matarangi, Opito Bay, Whangapoua, Tairua and Pauanui.

Foodstuffs North Island’s IT team and its partners have been deploying Starlink kits, satellite-based internet solutions, to help affected stores open for business and to continue serving their communities. The Starlink kits and IT technicians have been flown in by chopper to areas without road access in order to get stores operational.

Take care everyone

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Updated: Thursday, 16 February 2023  

What a tragic 72 hours, so many New Zealanders lives have been impacted. Our deepest condolences go to those who have lost loved ones and who are facing the challenge of rebuilding. To everyone affected, please know our teams have been working around the clock. We’ve got the stock, we’ve got the plan and we’ve got the means to get essential items to you as we support your towns and communities to recover. 

In the past 24 hours our team has made significant progress getting essentials to isolated communities and reopening and replenishing our stores where we can make deliveries.   

All our PAK’nSAVE stores are open, and we have just one New World closed, New World Onekawa in Napier, and there are options available for shoppers.  Today, we hope to gain road access to Onekawa in order to move a generator through to enable the store to reopen.  We have seven Four Squares not yet able to open, all in the Hawke’s Bay.  

Replenishing isolated communities is our absolute focus.  While there’s lots of great work going on to clear slips and reopen roads, people need the essentials now. We have a plan to re-open each store and we have the required stock and resources to make it happen. The biggest hurdle for us remains the roads.  To get stock through in the past 24 hours we’ve used back roads, Unimog's and we’ve contracted a helicopter that can lift 2-3 ton to get essentials like toilet paper and water into stores that cannot yet get a delivery by road. 

We’re using our Hasting depot as a staging point with the helicopter helping shift up to 40 pallets of stock and technology, such as Starlink kits for connecting to the internet, into the communities of Wairoa, Tokomaru Bay, Tologa Bay and Ruatoria.  

Where connectivity allows, for the latest information on local stores, customers should check the store’s Facebook page. 

Our HereforNZ team is working with community partners like Civil Defense Centres, Foodbanks, Social Supermarkets, City Missions, Community Trusts and charities like Butter Bean Motivation to provide support. We’ve now given at least $260,000 worth of food and goods to our partners.  

Yesterday we provided around $50,000 to Hawkes Bay community partners and we’re actively working with Gisborne partners as well.  

A huge shout out to our incredible teams for their heroic work and for continuing to go the extra mile every hour, while we make sure we get essentials to New Zealanders to recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.   

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Wednesday, 15 February 2023

As we see the horrific impact of this event across the North Island our thoughts are with the families of the people who’ve lost their lives due to Cyclone Gabrielle, those who’ve lost their homes and property and those who aren’t able to reach their families and loved ones.  

There was advanced warning of the cyclone, and our teams used the time to prepare by getting more stock into stores ahead of the extreme weather, which means we went into the event in as good a shape as we could hope to be.  

Today our teams are switching from full time crisis management to a combination of crisis management and recovery.  We have a focus on getting essentials to communities that haven’t had a delivery for a couple of days and reopening and replenishing our stores where we can make deliveries.  

As of midday, Wednesday 15 February, we have two New Worlds and 17 Four Squares unable to trade. A store might be closed because there’s no power, team members can’t get in to run the store, there’s flood damage, or Civil Defence has asked us to temporarily close until it’s safe to open. Thankfully most of these stores are in communities where there is another local option where people can get to for groceries. 

Our heroic drivers and our supplier partners are doing their best to safely get their deliveries to where they need to be nationwide, and we ask that customers in North Island only buy what they need for a couple of days and customers in South Island continue to shop as they normally do.  

The current weather conditions will mean there may be some NZ produce grown in North Island that is affected and there will be delays in shipping product between the North and South Island, but it’s currently too early to tell how this will affect availability.  Some of our suppliers who manufacture products have also been having challenges. We ask customers to be understanding if their first choice isn’t available when they shop. 

The community of Wairoa in Hawkes Bay has been hard hit and there’s currently no access by road. Our New World there is the only full-service supermarket in town, we’ve made contact with our local owner operator and team this morning and everyone’s OK. The store is open and has enough stock, as long as everyone only buys what they need. Our priority today is on getting essentials to this community by other means, including helicopter, plane, or by sea.  

Other communities we’re focused on getting supplies to are East Cape and Coromandel. Tairua in particular, and our teams are looking at alternative ways to get stock in, other than by road.   

A huge shout out to our incredible teams who continue to go the extra mile every hour, while we make sure we get essentials to New Zealanders and recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

 

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Tuesday, 14 February 2023

Our thoughts are with the people who’re affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and we’re grateful all our people are safe.

With difficult road conditions and closures throughout the North Island last night and this morning, our drivers and our supplier partners are doing their best to safely get their deliveries to our Distribution Centres and stores.

While there has been some disruption to deliveries, all the preparation we’ve done in advance means we have plenty of essentials already at store. The current road conditions may mean deliveries to affected areas are delayed today and we kindly ask customers to continue to buy only what they need, so communities can get their fair share when they come to store. From time-to-time, customers may see temporary product limits for items that are in high demand.

This morning, we have 23 Four Square, 5 New World and 2 PAK’nSAVE stores not yet able to open, mainly due to power issues, or under Civil Defense advice. As it’s a very dynamic and changing situation, we’re advising customers to follow Civil Defence advice in their local area - and if it’s safe to travel, to check their local store’s Facebook page, or website page, to check their store is open, before they set out.

Stores that are temporarily closed won’t be able to fulfil click and collect, or online delivery orders, so customers who’re affected by a temporary store closure will be contacted directly via email, so please keep an eye out.

Each of our New World and PAK’nSAVE stores are partnered with a foodbank, food rescue, or social supermarket and our HereforNZ team are constantly checking in to see how we can add to the support we’re giving throughout these unprecedented weather events. To date, we’ve provided at least $185,000 of food and goods for those needing support.

Our priority is always to keep our teams and customers safe.

 

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Monday, 13 February 2023

As Cyclone Gabrielle moves down the country, we want to reassure everyone our supply chain and stores are in good shape and the preparation work we did last week is standing us in good stead.

Safety is our number one priority and as the weather looks set to ramp up, our teams are busy keeping our locally owned and operated stores across the North Island stocked with products for their communities.  Delivery trucks all got to their destinations ahead of the storm and we have enough product on hand. 

We’ve made some subtle changes to keep the groceries flowing from our distribution centres to our stores, like reducing the number of non-essential items being delivered to stores. This gives us more room on our trucks for the essentials.

So far today our stores are fairly quiet and depending on the weather, each local store’s opening and closing times may vary, so we recommend customers check their local store’s Facebook page or webpage before setting out to come in.

Bread, milk and bottled water are a few of the most important groceries to North Islanders right now.  We’ve got good supplies of water, our in-store bakeries have been ramping up production to help keep up with bread demand - and some of our supply partners have also been changing their approaches to increase production.

We want to thank our incredible team at our distribution centres, our drivers, our owner operators and store teams, our suppliers and our foodbank, social supermarket and food rescue partners, for all they’re doing to make sure we get through Cyclone Gabrielle safely and with the supplies we all need.

Our stores are open but due to electricity outages, a handful of our Four Square stores are experiencing intermittent power issues. We have teams working to get any impacted stores back online as soon as we can.  

If you’re coming in and the weather is bad where you are, please take care.  We have enough stock, but sometimes our in-store teams aren’t able to replenish shelves fast enough from the storerooms in store. We’re asking customers to please only buy what you need for a few days, that way there’s enough for everyone when they shop.

Depending on what the weather brings to your area, your local store opening and closing times may vary, so please check their Facebook, or website page before you set out. 

Our priority is always to keep our teams and customers safe.

 

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Sunday, 12 February 2023

A huge shout out to all our teams, drivers and our suppliers and business partners for all you’re doing – and everything you will do – to make sure we’re as prepared as we can be for what this next weather event brings. 

Our stores are open, if you’re coming in and the weather is bad where you are, please take care - and we kindly ask you only buy what you need for a few days, so there’s enough for everyone when they shop. 

Depending on what the weather brings to your area, your local store opening and closing times may vary, so please check their Facebook, or website page before you set out. 

Our priority is always to keep our teams and customers safe - take care over the coming days.