Competition in the high-end retail space is heating up again, after Veritas Investment successfully sold its Nosh food supermarkets to a company called Gosh Holding, behind which—according to the company's sole shareholder, Sydney-based Andrew Phillips—are two or three New Zealand investors. Their names are yet to be disclosed, but Phillips revealed they are involved with consumer products in NZ. The consortium has plans to expand the Nosh brand both domestically and overseas, probably starting from Australia.
Meanwhile, Farro Fresh has just relaunched its website and online shop with an extensive range of fresh seasonal produce, fresh bread, deli cheeses and NZ-raised free-range meats. Wine, craft beer and a wider selection of NZ artisan products are also included.
The gourmet grocery chain refreshed its website for the first time in late 2015, featuring a state-of-the-art online shopping service with a thousand food and beverage lines initially available.
Customers can browse products by category, shop for ingredients or by recipe, and even purchase food boxes and gift boxes. Orders are then home delivered, picked up at a local Farro store or collected at the click-and-collect station located outside the Auckland’s Downtown Ferry terminal. Online purchases come in recyclable and sustainable boxes that can be reused or recycled.
The relaunched website, however, is not the only ‘new news’ for Farro, which is about to open its much-anticipated fifth store at Orakei basin development later this month. "Our Orakei store is set to open in the third week of February. These are exciting times here at Farro," co-founder Janene Draper told us. The new-look supermarket will employ approximately 60 people, bringing the Farro family up to over 450.
