Demand for South Island produce and locally made products has continued to grow across Foodstuffs stores, particularly for products that offer good quality, strong value, and relevance to customers.
For produce, about 60 percent comes from South Island growers, which Damian Lynch, Foodstuffs South Island General Manager Merchandise, said was important from a ‘backing local’ perspective and also for food security.
Lynch added that smaller, regional producers are often quite agile and respond quickly. If issues arise, they can be solved together, as the ultimate aim is to support long‑term partnerships that work for everyone.
However, products still need to perform in a highly competitive retail environment.
“To put that in context, there are about 17,000 individual products on the shelf in a big-sized New World, so when local suppliers can meet customer expectations on quality, price and supply, they can do well,” he said.
Lynch highlighted that one of the biggest challenges for smaller suppliers was scaling at pace in a fast‑moving, competitive retail environment. While getting a product on the shelf is an important step, meeting and sustaining demand is the ultimate test.
“We totally get it, and we are mindful that it’s demanding. What helps is that we’ve got small suppliers, who are family-owned businesses, dealing with our local grocers, who are also family-owned businesses, so everyone understands,” he said.
Small suppliers might start with one store, often their local one, then grow to a group of stores. From there, the next typical steps are being on the shelves of every store within a banner (Four Square, New World or PAK’nSAVE), which can then lead to ranging across all banners.
Additionally, owner‑operators have been strong advocates for supporting local suppliers, often have direct relationships and play an important role in identifying opportunities.
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