Foodstuffs North Island has released facts and figures of retail crime, comparing the year-on-year difference between February to April 2023 to the year prior.
In this year's February to April quarter, 3,285 retail crime incidents were reported across Foodstuffs North Island store, compared to 2,377 incidents in the same quarter last year. This is a 38.2 percent increase, equating to an average of 37 retail crime incidents daily.
Serious incidents such as burglary, assault, robbery, and other aggressive, violent, and threatening behaviour are up 36 percent for the same quarter, year on year, with repeat offenders responsible for 36 percent of all reported retail crime incidents.
The number of reported repeat offenders has increased by 34 percent from last year, and 2,541 incidents were related to shoplifting, a 57 percent increase year on year for February to April.
A further 254 incidents involved a trespass order being breached and 81 incidents of disorderly conduct, including verbal or racial abuse to team members, being drunk, or behaving inappropriately.
Premium cuts of meat and high-value health and beauty products are the most targeted items for theft.
Grocers running the North Island's New World, PAK'nSAVE and Four Square stores recorded a nearly 40 percent (38.2 percent) increase in retail crime between February and April of this year, with daily incidents of assault, aggression, threatening behaviour, abuse, and theft.
There 320 grocers are members of the Foodstuffs North Island co-operative. Chris Quin, Chief Executive of Foodstuffs North Island, explained that grocers of the co-operative had never seen retail crime at these levels.
"It's an extremely concerning and unacceptable trend," said Quin.
"Retail crime is coming through the front doors of grocery stores and impacting our teams daily. Grocers are focussed on keeping their people safe, which means investing in de-escalation and conflict management training and helping people cope in a situation involving aggression."
Quin continued that seeing the reports of what Foodstuffs store owners and team are dealing with daily was distressing, especially with the increase of incidents involving threats with weapons and physical assault against Foodstuffs employees.
"Every New Zealander has the right to work in a safe and secure environment and not be threatened, assaulted, spat on, yelled at, or racially abused as they go about their working day."
Foodstuffs retail crime reports also revealed emerging trends in criminal behaviour.
Quin stated that with 320 grocers serving almost every community in the North Island, providing a significant data set charting retail crime and its impact on Foodstuffs teams and customers, the co-operative was sharing this information to spread awareness and help the understanding of the extent of the issue. This information sharing is to motivate finding solutions together to keep team members and customers safe.
"Our local grocers collectively support 24,000 team members and 2.7 million New Zealanders who shop at their stores weekly. We must fully understand the nature of retail crime to evolve our security and safety strategies and ensure we're doing all we can to keep our people safe while providing New Zealanders a safe place to shop."
The significant increase in incidents, including the increase of serious incidents, was a primary concern for the co-operative and store owners, whose teams are on the frontline of retail crime, with both concerned over the safety of teams and customers.
Foodstuffs North Islands' security and loss prevention teams have identified incidents of coordinated crime involving individuals or groups stealing to order and on-sell. In one case, which is currently before the courts, tens of thousands of dollars worth of non-perishable goods were stolen for months and shipped overseas.
"The trend we're increasingly seeing is professional criminals stealing brand-specific goods to order. That's not something we've seen before at these levels."
In another incident, one repeat offender stole 31 whole eye, scotch, and sirloin fillets for weeks, valued at almost $3,200. Foodstuffs' security specialists say the behaviour indicates it's being stolen to order or to sell.
Shoplifters who are identified are trespassed where appropriate, but it's not easy keeping repeat offenders from returning to the store to re-offend. Foodstuffs North Island recorded 254 cases of customers breaching trespass notices in the February to April 2023 quarter.
Quin identified three key drivers of retail crime which Foodstuffs security specialists believe are driving most of the crimes, the first being professional criminals stealing to order to on-sell, the second being individuals struggling with addiction who are stealing to fund or fuel their addiction, and the third is groups of youths committing destructive acts which are filmed and posted on social media.
Retail crime increased in every region of the North Island in the February-to-April quarter, except Hawke's Bay and Gisborne, which Cyclone Gabrielle heavily impacted.
"There's no postcode for the current wave of crime. It's in the cities, the regions, and our small communities. It's right across the North Island."
There is a strong need for collaboration between Government, Police, community leaders and business owners to address this complex issue.
"Our grocers and co-operative are committed to working with communities to tackle retail crime."
