17 March 2023

Wayne Kennerley of Kennerley Gourmet Grocery Ltd receives his first delivery from Foodstuffs Wholesale.

Foodstuffs North Island (FSNI) has released its latest update on progress towards implementing the Commerce Commission’s final recommendations.

In April 2022, the co-op launched a reporting dashboard to track its progress on the recommendations and committed to publicly reporting via the dashboard.

In addition, FSNI has committed to establishing a wholesale solution to supply a wide range of retail-ready groceries to retailers who aren’t members of the co-operative. Progress on this service is included in the dashboard reporting.

This week FSNI delivered its first access seeker wholesale order of products to Kennerley Gourmet Grocery Ltd, the parent company of grocery delivery businesses The Meat Box and Paddock to Pantry and gifting businesses Celebration Box and The Wild Rose.

The gourmet grocery and gifting business is using FSNI’s wholesale service to purchase items the company uses in large volumes to maintain a consistent supply of products.

Kennerley Gourmet Grocery Chief Executive Wayne Kennerley says many suppliers don’t offer a direct to trade supply network in New Zealand for mid-sized businesses, so companies like his end up purchasing products in supermarkets at retail prices to offer a full range.

“Being able to tap into Foodstuffs’ wholesale network brings great opportunities. It will give us access to a broader range of goods, at better prices, and provide a more consistent supply network.

“This is only the first step in the journey, and we are working closely with Foodstuffs North Island to ensure it is an efficient process for both sides. As we continue to do this, we look forward to seeing more suppliers opt-in to allow their products to be sold through this new wholesale service. This will be needed to support the service and ensure its success.”

Foodstuffs North Island Chief Executive Chris Quin says it’s great to welcome the first wholesale customer.

“The first delivery to Kennerley Gourmet Grocery is another step for the co-op in our wholesale journey. It requires a significant amount of work to understand the demand from retailers, engage with suppliers to seek their agreement and develop standardised terms and conditions.

“Our wholesale team is continuing to work hard on this end-to-end solution and whilst progress has been made, we acknowledge that there is still work to be done to ensure that we provide the best experience for all parties involved.

“We have several other retailers indicating interest in joining our new wholesale service and our dedicated team is working on the solutions for these retailers. A big part of the success of this service will depend upon suppliers opting-in, so that we have the range of retail-ready groceries that non-member retailers will want to purchase from our wholesale service.”

Quin says the co-op's latest dashboard update also details progress made on simplifying pricing and promotions, the removal of land covenants and implementation of unit pricing.

“On simplifying pricing and promotions, we’ve now removed 95% of Saver promotions at our New World North Island stores as part of our move to reduce the total number of tickets from five to four in New World stores.

“On land covenants, we’ve identified 55 restrictive covenants for removal and have removed 38 of them - it's our priority to identify and remove any remaining restrictive covenants. Unit pricing implementation is currently sitting at 90% based on the Australian Code. We’re awaiting the detail of the final mandatory unit pricing regulations to be able to complete this work in full.

“We’re committed to being transparent and will continue to provide updates on our work to action all of the Commission’s recommendations to ensure that our customers are getting value at the checkout. We know we’re accountable to New Zealanders on this.”