The social supermarket created in partnership with Buttabean Motivation (BBM) and Foodstuffs North Island opened in Tokoroa yesterday.
Social supermarkets allow people who are experiencing food insecurity to cater for their needs in a supermarket-style environment rather than with pre-filled food packages.
"We decided to bring this initiative to Tokoroa because we have an existing BBM group down here, and through that have learned a lot about what the community needs. We have a member in Tokoroa who weighs over 300kg. Every time I visit him, I think if we had a service down here that could provide him the support like we have in South Auckland, he would have more of a chance of living. That's the kind of difference we believe this initiative can make," said David Letele of BBM.
Since the first lockdown in NZ, BBM has provided food support through their food share program.
"BBM Foodshare started in the first ever level four lockdown. We heard about a mum of four who had no food or money, and we knew there had to be some sort of help we could provide."
"The idea is that this will be a place where people can connect with a wide range of support services to help make sure that one day, they don't need the social supermarket anymore."
"That's what makes this model work – our Foodstuffs' team brings retail expertise, we support on all the logistics of setting up a supermarket, training a team to operate it, and sorting replenishment processes… but it's the local community organisation who decides exactly how things will run and what the offering will be for customers," said Chris Quinn, Foodstuffs North Island CEO.
This is Foodstuff's third social supermarket, following the success of the Wellington City Mission Social Supermarket and Te Hiku Pātaka in Kaitaia. The Tokoroa supermarket shares a site with BBM's newly opened gym on 49 Ashworth Street.
