Foodstuffs North Island celebrates a century of service with a series of events for teams and business partners, past and present. Foodstuffs North Island started as a small cooperative of a few grocers in 1922 and has been constant for kiwis through art deco in the 1920s, wartime restrictions, the 50s instant food trends, and hairspray fuelled hairstyles.
“We’re proud to be a team who’re Foodies for life. People and the incredible work they do are at the very centre of every success story we have to tell from the last century. The 100-year events have been an incredible journey through our shared history,” said Chris Quin, CEO.
Highlights from the celebration included a ‘Golden Oldies’ morning tea for retired Foodstuffs alumni, a co-operative member dinner and an event to celebrate important partnerships.
An interactive walk-through exhibition was the centrepiece of the celebrations. Guests could walk through the decades, with each stage of the showcase highlighting how media, food and daily life interacted with Foodstuffs across each generation. Snapshots of the Foodstuffs history was brought to life with video of past team member stories and vignettes showing the role the cooperative has played in communities. Innovation projects such as Pams, Checker of the Year winners and the uniform evolution were also on display.
“Our suppliers, distribution and support centre teams are all part of making this milestone happen, and I'm grateful that after over two years of Zoom calls and Teams meetings because of Covid restrictions, so many of our Foodies family were able to come together to celebrate 100 years of service in person.”
“The grocery industry never stands still and, as a team of thousands, working together is more important than ever as we face new challenges like rising inflation and recovery from the pandemic. It’s the way we’ve done things in our co-op for 100 years, and it’s how we will go into the next 100 --by constantly growing and evolving to keep on exceeding our customers’ expectations.”
