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August 2026 • Vol. 19 No. 8
BEYOND THE AISLES - YOUR TRUSTED INDUSTRY VOICE SINCE 1923
what'shot (see page 10)
oils (see page 12)
10.95
behindthebusiness (see page 22)
Try ou rn soft s ew erv flavou e rs!
Food Service
Solutions Sweet to savoury, plus the packaging to match
www.dunninghams.co.nz
editor’snote
WHO RANGE-REVIEWS GOVERNMENT
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very supermarket operator knows what happens when overhead gets too high. Labour is reviewed, freight is reviewed, suppliers are reviewed and ranges are reviewed. If a cost is not earning its place, someone eventually asks why it is still there. Government should face the same test. As we head towards the November election, there will be plenty of promises about where more money should be spent, but I would like to hear considerably more about what each party plans to stop spending money on. Consultants are a good place to start. Public Service organisations spent $611.1 million on contractors and consultants in 2024/25, down 35 percent on the year before. Credit where it is due, the current Government has reduced that bill, but the bigger question is why so much outside advice is needed in the first place. There will always be a place for consultants. Government needs specialist engineers, lawyers, technology experts and independent reviewers, and there are times when expertise is only needed for a short period. Employing someone permanently for every specialist requirement would make no sense. But if an agency keeps hiring consultants to understand its own sector, assess risk or decide whether a proposal is commercially sensible, surely there comes a point where that knowledge should sit inside the organisation. If you are making decisions about transport, food manufacturing, grocery or
procurement, employ people who understand those sectors. Qualifications matter, but so does practical experience. Then use consultants to test the work. External review should challenge assumptions, check the numbers and bring in specialist knowledge where it is needed. It should not become the way an organisation does its everyday thinking. New Zealand Government Procurement guidance already says consultants and contractors should not be used to deliver core government functions. There is also a risk in cutting too far, with the Auditor-General previously warning about public organisations becoming so lean that they no longer have enough internal expertise to properly manage contracted work. Neither extreme represents good value. We should not be choosing between a large public service and a large consultancy bill. We should be asking how many people are actually needed, what expertise needs to stay inside and what genuinely needs to be bought from outside. The same applies to communications. Central and local government need people who can communicate with the public, particularly during emergencies, major road closures, water problems and public consultations. But how many people are employed, what are they doing, what does the function cost and how much work is still being sent to outside agencies? These are normal questions in business and should be no less reasonable when taxpayers are paying the bill.
A supermarket cannot simply add another layer of management because everyone is busy. A supplier cannot keep adding overhead and expect retailers or consumers to absorb it indefinitely. At some point the numbers have to work, and government should be no different. This is also where the issue becomes relevant to grocery. Our industry relies on roads, electricity, water, ports, rail and fuel. We can build highly efficient distribution centres and tightly managed supply chains, but none of that works particularly well if the basic infrastructure underneath it fails. It would be simplistic to suggest that cutting a few communications jobs suddenly pays for a new highway. Government operating budgets and infrastructure programmes do not work that neatly, but overhead still matters. Permanent costs accumulate, and across councils, departments and Crown entities those costs become significant. Before taxpayers are asked for another levy, charge or tax to fund something essential, we are entitled to know what has already been reviewed. What has been stopped or combined, what expertise has been brought back inside, what outside contracts are no longer required and which management layers have been questioned? Businesses make these tough decisions because they have to. In an election year, I would like to see political parties show us that they are prepared to do the same.
food& grocery COUNCIL NEW ZEALAND
ATTENTION GROCERY SUPPLIERS The Food and Grocery Council is an industry association for grocery suppliers providing members networking, events, industry information and strong advocacy. Contact us for information on the benefits of membership: raewyn.bleakley@fgc.org.nz • Networking • Industry Updates • Conference and Events • Education and Training • Advocacy and Law Reform
Tania Walters | Publisher
This magazine is published monthly under license. Please direct all enquiries and correspondence to Review Publishing Co Ltd. This magazine is a platform for the industry and may include content that expresses views and opinions by contributing writers. Content is attributed to the author, and these opinions and the view/s are those of the author/s. They do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organisation, employer or company. The opinions and material published in this edition are not necessarily those of the publishers unless expressly stated. All material appearing in the magazine, website and social media platforms is copyright and may only be reproduced with the written consent of the publisher. Copyright 2026
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Whats Hot
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ISSN 1173-3365 (Print) ISSN 2744-595X (Online)
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www.fgc.org.nz
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newslocal
Government Scraps ‘Offensive Trades’ List
Long Term Investment From New World Te AtatŪ Owners
The Government has scrapped the ‘offensive trades’ list under the 1956 Health Act (the Act), ending annual registrations for affected businesses and saving them time and money.
New World Te Atatū has officially opened its doors today, following a NZD 50 million investment that has created approximately 100 local jobs and expanded choice for the West Auckland community.
CLICK TO READ MORE
CLICK TO READ MORE
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More Than Just Rugby In Weet-Bix’s Latest Stat Attack Drop
Weet-Bix Stat Attack collection has expanded beyond rugby to celebrate 26 of New Zealand's most iconic athletes across 15 different disciplines, recognising that the sporting dreams of Kiwi kids now stretch far beyond the footy field.
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aunching on the 10th of August for a limited 12-week run, every promotional pack of Weet-Bix will include Stat Attack cards, giving Kiwi families the chance to collect athletes who reflect the changing face of New Zealand sport. Joining Dame Valerie Adams, Kane Williamson, Lewis Clareburt, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Ardie Savea are some of New Zealand's most recognisable sporting names, including Dame Lisa Carrington,
Grace Nweke, Amelia Kerr, Erika Fairweather and many more. Sanitarium’s Hayley Scott, Senior Brand and Activation Lead, said the new-look collection reflected the evolution of Kiwi kids' sporting interests. For almost 30 years, Weet-Bix has celebrated the athletes inspiring Kiwi kids. Rugby remains an important part of New Zealand's sporting identity, but children are equally inspired by athletes from athletics,
cricket, football, league, netball, swimming and many other codes. The 2026 Stat Attack All Stars collection reflects that shift, while staying true to what has made Stat Attack such an iconic part of growing up in New Zealand. "At Sanitarium, inspiring active, healthy lifestyles is at the heart of our purpose. We hope the Weet-Bix Stat Attack All Stars cards encourage more Kiwi kids to get active and find a sport they love.”
August 2026
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newslocal
Beef & Lamb Prices Remain Elevated Foodstuffs data has shown that annual food price inflation across the co-ops’ comparable FPI basket eased to 1.2 percent in July, the lowest annual increase since December 2024.
CLICK TO READ MORE
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Dental Leaders Call For Sugary Drink Industry Levy According to a white paper released by the New Zealand Dental Association, a levy on sugary drinks could save the health system up to NZD 2.2 billion. CLICK TO READ MORE
Try ou rn soft s ew erv flavou e rs!
Food Service
Solutions Sweet to savoury, plus the packaging to match
www.dunninghams.co.nz August 2026
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celebrating 70 years of being made in New Zealand Purex is celebrating 70 years of being made in New Zealand. That’s a big deal. It’s 70 years of employing local Kiwis and providing comfort and quality for you and your whanau. It’s decades of sustainable practices and of course, the lovable Rolly! Happy birthday Purex.
SEE THE STORY
August 2026
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UP&GO PROTEIN COOKIES & CREAM FLAVOUR 500ML Sanitarium
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GET UP&GO with new UP&GO™ Protein Energize Cookies & Cream. Combining 35g of protein, fibre and low GI energy with a delicious Cookies & Cream taste, it is an exciting new addition to the range for consumers looking for a high-protein option to fit their active lifestyles. upandgo.co.nz
COLA KEFIR SODA
The Wild Fermentary The Wild Fermentary's new Cola & Lime Kefir Soda proved a standout at this year's Auckland Food Show, where it was the best-selling flavour in the company's water kefir range. Developed in collaboration with Six Barrel Soda Co, it brings together classic Cola Six flavour with the benefits of traditional fermentation to create New Zealand's first living cola. Crafted in small batches at The Wild Fermentary using a live water kefir SCOBY, the drink is naturally fermented, lower in sugar than conventional soft drinks, and alive with billions of beneficial live cultures. As consumer demand continues to grow for products that combine wellness with everyday enjoyment, Cola Kefir is one to watch. Now ranging in Foodstuffs.
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CANTER VALLEY DUCK DRUMMETTES Canter Valley
Canter Valley’s Duck Drummettes are prized for their rich, savoury flavour, tender meat and deliciously crispable skin. More intensely flavoured than chicken wings, they’re a versatile cut that works beautifully with both Asian-inspired and classic flavours. Try roasting them with Chinese five-spice, garlic, ginger, soy and honey for a sticky, caramelised finish, or glaze with hoisin, chilli and sesame for a deliciously savoury-sweet result. These Duck Drummettes are also excellent slowcooked or confited in duck fat until meltingly tender, then finished under high heat for crisp skin. For something classic, pair with orange, thyme and honey. Perfect for sharing, entertaining, or adding a gourmet twist to everyday meals, Canter Valley Duck Drummettes are available frozen in 1kg packs (15 per carton) at selected Woolworths, New World, and Pak’nSave stores. For more information, email orders@cantervalley. co.nz or visit www.cantervalley.co.nz
COPPER KETTLE DEEP RIDGE Copper Kettle
Copper Kettle is excited to re-launch Copper Kettle Deep Ridge, a range of delicious hardbite, kettle-cooked ridge chips designed for snack lovers who crave extra crunch and big flavour. Perfect for sharing this spring and summer at BBQs, picnics and social gatherings, Deep Ridge delivers with a range of three crowd-pleasing new flavours: Honey Soy Chicken, Sweet Chilli & Sour Cream, and Salted.
DISCOVER COOKIE PIE NEWNESS! Original Foods
Introducing the newest addition to the Original Foods Cookie Pie range: Caramelised Biscuit. This indulgent treat combines soft white choc chip cookie dough with a rich Biscoff® spread centre and a crunchy Biscoff® biscuit topping for the ultimate sweet indulgence. The launch also marks a fresh new look across the entire Cookie Pie range. Look out for the updated packaging hitting now!
CREATE PERFECT PIZZA AT HOME Organic Dough
The continued rise of outdoor cooking and growth in gas-fired pizza ovens is creating a bigger pizza-at-home weekly occasion - and Organic Dough Co. is all about helping Kiwis create perfect pizza at home in 5 easy steps. Made with organic flour and natural ingredients, the authenticity is second to none. This Artisan Award-winning frozen pizza dough delivers restaurantquality results, and the new justadd-water Dry Pizza Dough Mix brings the experience to the pantry,
offering consumers convenience and portability with an ambient merchandising solution. Easy-tofollow instructions and QR-code video guides help consumers succeed every time. Great pizza also builds a quality basket - cheese, sauces, meats, toppings and entertaining essentials. With 70+ stockists and growing nationwide, is your store maximising the premium pizza occasion and capturing the growing authentic pizza-at-home weekly spend?
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Local Production Meets NZ EVOO Demand
The New Zealand olive sector has remained steady, and like all horticulture industries, production volumes have been influenced by the climate and season.
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he New Zealand olive sector has remained steady, and like all horticulture industries, production volumes have been influenced by the climate and season. Although not many new groves have been planted in the country, Emma Glover, Olives New Zealand Executive Officer, has observed a resurgence of previously unharvested groves and expanded plantings in existing commercial groves. She said consumer demand for New Zealand EVOO has grown, with local production striving to match it through
oils
improved productivity. Glover explained that New Zealand-grown EVOO can be distinguished by freshness and flavour, and that, for extra virgin olive oil, the fresher the oil, the better the quality and the more health benefits it has. “EVOO is at its highest nutritional benefit when it is fresh; over time the natural antioxidants and health-giving properties degrade to the point where the compounds that provide the specific benefits of olive oil are lost,” said Glover. “While other countries produce many excellent EVOOs, New Zealand-grown
EVOO has no lengthy journeys or extended storage periods, making it the freshest available as local growers can have it ready for sale within weeks of pressing, unlike imports.” All high-quality EVOO has unique flavour characteristics, defined by its chemical and physical properties, as well as its aroma and taste. New Zealand EVOO can be generally recognised as a distinct medium- or intense-style oil, often with green, grassy notes. However, like wine, the aroma, taste, flavour, and mouthfeel of every bottle tend to be influenced by the specific olive variety and the ripeness of the fruit, the season, the climate, and the region it was grown in. “Not all olive oils are created equal. The term ‘olive oil’ generally refers to oil extracted from olive fruit, but confusingly, it is also a grade of olive oil,” added Glover. She highlighted that many supermarket shoppers did not understand the distinction between the quality grade of EVOO and olive oil. Although both have health benefits, EVOO stands out because its natural antioxidants, vitamins, and beneficial compounds were not destroyed during processing. With few New Zealand EVOOs on supermarket shelves, Glover said the first key message to communicate to supermarket shoppers was the difference in quality, and that fresh is best. Glover suggested consumers look at the harvest date on the labels: the best before should be two years from harvest, and they should be consumed within three months of opening.
Consumers should also be mindful that polyphenols are recorded at the time of testing and they degrade over time, with the speed of degradation depending on oil quality and storage conditions. Polyphenols are also associated with the bitterness and pungency of the EVOO; an oil with high polyphenols may not be balanced or taste that great. To help consumers understand what to look for, Olives NZ has developed a certification program with a red OliveMark sticker growers and producers can put on their bottles of certified EVOO. Additionally, the local olive industry produces only EVOO, as its scale and production are not large enough to compete with the global commodity ‘olive oil', but as imported oil prices have increased over the past few years, New Zealand EVOO has become price competitive. Glover believed the biggest opportunity for the industry has been growth in demand from consumers looking for fresh, highquality New Zealand EVOO. At the same time, the challenge will be meeting that demand. With pressure on land prices, crops delivering faster and higher returns, and ever-increasing production costs, a new grove of olive trees that takes seven to ten years to produce viable crops does not work in the industry's favour for investors focused solely on the bottom line. But for those looking ahead, while adding passion and lifestyle into the equation, Glover said there is opportunity for a good balance and reasonable income. n
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avocado oil Grove has been producing avocado oil in New Zealand for over 25 years, with the same focus on quality, purity and great taste. Made from avocados and nothing else, Grove Extra Virgin Avocado Oil is 100% pure, aligned and compliant with Codex CXS 210-1999 parameters, naturally rich in monounsaturated fats and vitamin E. It’s also incredibly versatile, equally at home in the frying pan or roasting tray as it is in baking, dressings and marinades. That combination of authenticity, nutrition, versatility and flavour continues to earn recognition internationally. In 2026, Grove Extra Virgin Avocado Oil was once again awarded by the International Taste Institute, adding to its growing list of international taste awards. Find out more at groveavocadooil.co.nz
avoyeah! Grove has taken its expertise about avocado oil and brought it to a new part of the supermarket aisle with AvoYeah!, its new range of avocado oil mayos. Made in New Zealand with 100% pure avocado, the range offers another easy way to enjoy the naturally good fats of avocado oil in a creamy texture. And the choice of oil is more than a label claim. In a recent UC Davis study examining the authenticity of avocado oil mayonnaises, AvoYeah! mayos were the only products tested that were consistently made with pure avocado oil across all mayo samples tested. The range includes Mayo, Garlic Aioli, Pickle, Sriracha and Burger Sauce. Discover the range at groveavocadooil.co.nz
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The World’s #1 Olive Oil Brand Just Got Even Better TWO NEW OILS DESIGNED FOR TODAY’S KITCHEN
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BERTOLLI EXTRA VIRGIN DRESS & DRIZZ
BERTOLLI AIR FRYER OLIVE OIL SPRAY
CONVENIENT EASY SQUEEZE BOTTLE WITH PRECISE DOSAGE CONTROL
1
st COOKING OIL SPRAY MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR AIR FRYERS
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The Olive Lady By sourcing single-origin Greek extra virgin olive oil, The Olive Lady assures customers they are investing in unadulterated purity with every bottle. Taste the Mediterranean with The Olive Lady’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil, cold-pressed in Greece from the revered Koroneiki olives and famous for their high concentration of health-protecting polyphenols. This exceptional oil boasts superior antioxidant power, supporting heart health and reducing inflammation. Customers will elevate their well-being with the rich flavour and natural benefits of this Greek liquid gold - authentic provenance in every drizzle. Bringing authentic Greek products to New Zealand since 1996, The Olive Lady knows her olives…and olive oil. Simply Greek Cuisine! Bring authentic quality to your shelves by contacting sales@theolivelady.co.nz or 021537268.
Blue Coconut Oil The modern everyday cooking oil. Many thought coconut oil belonged in the specialty aisle. With no aroma or flavour and excellent tolerance to high heat, it is making its name as the everyday cooking oil. With an expanding supermarket presence, the company sources its oil from Pacific Island communities and refines it in New Zealand. Refining is what filters out the flavour and aroma. It swaps onefor-one for butter in baking and is an excellent option for sautéing, roasting, and deep frying. The retail range spans 400g, 1L and 4L, alongside a 500ml MCT oil. A 20L commercial pack supplies foodservice. Every tub carries a batch number, traceable to the island of origin. Find out more at bluecoconut.co.nz
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Trickett’s Grove Walnut Oil Discover the beautiful taste of Trickett’s Grove Walnut Oil. Born in the heart of Canterbury, Trickett’s Grove is dedicated to creating premium products that showcase the natural goodness of locally grown walnuts. Its award-winning Walnut Oil is made from carefully selected and gently cold-pressed walnuts to capture a smooth texture and beautifully nutty flavour. The oil is a versatile finishing oil for everyday cooking and special occasions. Drizzle over fresh salads, roasted vegetables, potatoes and pasta, or use it to add depth to homemade dressings, marinades, and sauces. At Trickett’s Grove, great flavour starts with quality ingredients, thoughtful craftsmanship and a genuine connection to the land. Trickett’s Grove Walnut Oil - naturally delicious, beautifully nutty, high in Omega-3 and made with care in Canterbury. For more information, visit www.trickettsgrove.nz or call 03 3478103
THE GOOD OIL X BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION NZ The Good Oil is supporting Breast Cancer Foundation NZ for the fifth year with a limitededition 1L Pink Ribbon bottle of Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil. For every bottle sold, NZD 1 will be donated to BCFNZ, helping fund research, education, advocacy and patient support as the Foundation works towards its vision of zero deaths from breast cancer. The familiar yellow label will turn pink for the month, making it easy to spot on shelf. With the support of Kiwi shoppers, The Good Oil has now donated more than NZD 100,000 to BCFNZ, with this year’s campaign set to build on that milestone. Ordering info: Available for all supermarket DCs from late September.
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Health, Provenance and Transparency
New Zealand brands have a real opportunity to broaden the way shoppers think about cooking oil.
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ew Zealand brands have a real opportunity to broaden the way shoppers think about cooking oil. Although traditionally, the category was split between inexpensive everyday oils and more premium options, there is now plenty of room in the middle for a locally grown oil that offers quality, a strong nutritional profile, and genuine everyday value. JP Etheridge, second-generation family owner of The Olive Lady, said consumers have been seeking provenance and transparency, driving a shift from cheap, highly processed seed oils back to extra virgin olive oil for daily use. When clear value is offered, shoppers trade up to higher-grade oils for better health and flavour. They have also been influenced primarily by transparency, nutrient density, and culinary versatility when choosing oil. Similarly, Andy O’Malley-Mora, Marketing & Brand Manager at The Good Oil, has seen rising consumer interest in local provenance, traceability, and a straightforward production process, which have become more important alongside the usual considerations of quality and price. The Good Oil has focused on those things for more than a decade, working directly with local growers, choosing high-oleic varieties for its nutritional and cooking qualities, and cold-pressing the oil locally, so in many ways the market has moved closer to where the company has always been. Although high oleic sounds quite technical, it simply means the oil naturally contains a high proportion of oleic acid. This monounsaturated fat gives it a healthy nutritional profile and good natural heat stability. From a shopper’s point of view, O’MalleyMora mentioned that the real benefit was its
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versatility. High oleic seed varieties boost the oil's excellent heat stability and mild natural flavours, giving it the benefits of an extra virgin, cold-pressed oil that is still genuinely practical for everyday cooking and doesn’t overpower the food. Additionally, cold-pressing prioritises the quality of the finished oil rather than chasing the maximum possible yield; it helps retain the natural golden colour, mild flavour and naturally occurring antioxidants. “You can use the same bottle for a salad dressing, frying, roasting or baking. It gives people a high-quality, natural oil that is still affordable enough to use every day rather than saving it for special occasions,” he said. For extra virgin olive oils, Etheridge mentioned that single-origin transparency boosted consumers' confidence that they were paying for 100 percent pure, unadulterated quality. “Options like Greek extra virgin olive oil have gained more attention because they stand out as the ultimate functional food for heart health. The Olive Lady’s single-origin extra virgin olive oil excels in this metric,” said Etheridge. Looking ahead, Etheridge believes that packaging innovations, specifically reusable and refillable formats, will drive category growth. On avocado oil, Brad Siebert, CEO of NZ Avocado, echoed earlier sentiments that provenance, freshness and quality have become increasingly important, as consumers have taken greater interest in where their food comes from and how it has been produced. New Zealand-grown avocado oil benefits from being made from locally grown fruit, offering strong provenance and traceability from orchard through to the finished product. Siebert mentioned that the industry has placed a strong emphasis
on fruit quality, food safety, and sustainable growing practices, giving consumers confidence in where the product comes from and how it is produced. However, he highlighted that not all shoppers understand what to look for on a label and terms such as “made in New Zealand”, “packed in New Zealand” and “made from New Zealand avocados” can mean quite different things, and clear labelling and simple messaging can make it easier for shoppers to make an informed choice. “For supermarket brands, the opportunity is to make that provenance much more visible. Clear country-of-origin messaging that distinguishes oil produced from New Zealand-grown avocados from products made using imported fruit or oil can help consumers make an informed choice,” he added. “Communicating the story behind the product, including its local grower connection, traceability and the quality standards underpinning production, can provide a meaningful point of difference on shelf.” For example, New Zealand provenance has been central to Bay of Plenty-based company Grove’s story, as it has produced avocado oil for 25 years in one of New Zealand’s key avocado-growing regions. Its local production has also given shoppers a clear, credible product story while supporting New Zealand growers and making valuable use of locally grown avocados. “That connection to the fruit, the growers and the place where it is grown is an important part of who we are,” said the Grove Avocado Oil team. “We believe provenance matters to many consumers, particularly when backed by quality, transparency, and a genuine connection to the source. It gives shoppers
Provenance, transparency and versatility are becoming increasingly important as consumers look for quality oils that offer genuine everyday value. another reason to feel confident about the product they are choosing.” Additionally, growing interest in avocados as a wholesome food has helped consumers become more familiar with avocado oil and its origins, with Grove observing avocado oil move from a relatively unfamiliar speciality product to an established choice in New Zealand kitchens, with greater awareness of its health benefits driving the shift. Avocado oil is naturally rich in monounsaturated fats and contains vitamin E, appealing to consumers who make more
considered choices about the fats they use. Its nutritional profile is matched by its versatility: avocado oil can be used for frying, roasting, and baking thanks to its high smoke point, a key difference from oils better suited to low-temperature cooking or finishing. At the same time, avocado oil has a mild flavour, so it does not overpower the food and works well in dressings and marinades. Ultimately, Siebert said future growth will depend on getting the fundamentals right: productive orchards, consistent fruit quality, strong market relationships and continued investment in developing demand both in New Zealand and internationally. Another oil that has moved from a niche product to a familiar staple in many Kiwi kitchens has been coconut oil. While early demand was driven by interest in natural and alternative products, today consumers choose it for its simplicity and versatility. “At Blue Coconut, we have many loyal customers who have used our coconut oil for years. They use it for cooking, frying, roasting and baking, for skin and hair care, which is a big part of its appeal,” said the Blue Coconut team. They added that many consumers already
have coconut oil in their pantry but may use it only for certain recipes, so there was an opportunity to encourage shoppers to use it in more meals rather than reserving it for a particular occasion. “Consumers are choosing different oils for different purposes, and coconut oil has earned its place as a natural, versatile option. For us, it’s not about chasing a trend, but providing a quality product people know, trust and enjoy using,” said the team. Sustainability is also an important consideration, and Blue Coconut has seen consumers become more mindful of the products they buy, including their ingredients and origins. Blue Coconut sources its oil through Pacific Island partnerships, and working closely with trusted suppliers has helped maintain consistent quality and supply. The brand believes consumers want greater transparency and confidence in the products they buy. “Being able to clearly tell the story of where our coconut oil comes from, while supporting Pacific Island villages and refining and packing locally, gives Blue Coconut a point of difference.” n
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Every Oil Has a Fingerprint
When someone buys a bottle labelled "100% pure avocado oil," they're trusting that what's inside matches the label. The good news is oils have a chemistry to them, so we can actually go check.
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big part of how we do that is sterol composition. Sterols are naturally occurring compounds in plant oils. Avocado oil has phytosterols, beta-sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, avenasterols in specific, characteristic proportions. Canola, sunflower, safflower, and soybean oil contain these same compounds too, just in different amounts. Put that combination together, and you get something like a fingerprint. Blend another oil into avocado oil, and that fingerprint starts to move. Some sterols climb, others drop, and the pattern drifts toward whatever got added in. Avocado oil does vary naturally, too. Geography, variety, harvest timing, and processing mean a genuine oil can occasionally land just outside what you'd expect. What it won't do is drift all the way over to looking like sunflower, safflower, or canola oil. Codex Alimentarius, the international food standards system run by FAO and
WHO, publishes compositional ranges for avocado oil, sterols included, and those ranges are set intentionally wide to leave room for natural variability. So if one marker sits a bit outside the range, that's not alarming on its own; it's when several sterols and/or fatty acids fall well outside the expected range, moving together in a way that mirrors another seed oil, that we're looking at something different. This is part of why we don't rely on fatty acid testing alone. I could build a blend in my lab that hits avocado oil's fatty acid profile almost perfectly, and a company cutting corners could do the same. But that blend would fall apart under sterol analysis, because a blend engineered to pass on fatty acids isn't simultaneously engineered to pass on sterols, those just come along for the ride from whatever oils went into it. Genuine avocado oil can have a value or two land just outside the Codex range. What it won't do is take on the fingerprint of a different oil entirely. When that
Photo Credits:These chips were among the 54 avocado-labelled products tested for avocado oil authenticity in the Wang lab at UC Davis. (Natalie Lopez-Alvarez/UC Davis)
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fingerprint shifts clearly and consistently, the chemistry is telling us something the label isn't. That's what we did in our recent UC Davis study: fatty acids and sterols, assessed together, across processed foods labelled as containing avocado oil. 48 of the 54 products we tested didn't match an authentic avocado oil composition. We didn't base that conclusion on one odd result; we got there by asking a simple question of several markers at once: does this behave like real avocado oil, or not? Nobody buying a bottle of oil should have to understand lab chemistry to trust the label. That's the point of this work: an objective way to check if the label matches the actual product.
Selina Wang, Ph.D.
Professor of Cooperative Extension Faculty Director, UC Davis Olive Center
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NZFGC Conference 2026: bringing industry together
In less than 80 days, the NZFGC annual conference 2026 will convene in Queenstown, providing a forum for discussion and insights across the food, beverage and grocery industry.
Raewyn Bleakley
Chief Executive, New Zealand Food & Grocery Council
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his is our biggest event of the year, taking place from 4-6 November. Few industries touch the lives of New Zealanders as directly as food, beverage, and grocery. Every day, manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers ensure products reach consumers while balancing ongoing cost pressures, evolving consumer expectations, regulatory changes and the need to invest for future growth. With the conference taking place just three days out from this year’s General Election, we’ve focused the topics and speakers on the priorities that
matter to our industry. Our headline sponsor, Argon & Co, will share expertise in procurement, operations and business transformation, examining how organisations can build stronger, more adaptive businesses in the face of ongoing fuel shocks and uncertainty. Another key focus will be the changing retail landscape. Delegates will hear from leaders representing New Zealand's major grocery retailers, including Foodstuffs North Island Chief Executive Chris Quin, Woolworths New Zealand Managing Director Sally Copland, Matthew Lane from Night 'n Day, and Foodstuffs South Island Chief Executive Mary Devine. Having retailers participate provides an opportunity to explore how these key businesses are responding to shifting shopping patterns, changing consumer needs and increasing expectations around value, convenience and sustainability. For suppliers and manufacturers, understanding these perspectives is critical as they plan for the years ahead. Alongside retailer perspectives, delegates will gain access to market intelligence and economic insights designed to help businesses make informed decisions in a complex environment. NielsenIQ are back as sponsors of the welcome cocktail event and will again feature on our speaker
programme taking a look a mega shifts and the role of changing technology and how members can ready themselves. Circana, will be back to present their State of the Industry which will focus on retail performance, homing in on grocery, and emerging trends. As a new addition to the programme we are excited to have Craig Woolford from Marquee MST. Craig has over 20 years of experience analysing the retail, food and beverage industries working at both Citigroup and CommSec. He is highly ranked by institutional investor clients and regularly cited in the media and industry journals for views about the future of the retail sector. We’ve asked Craig to apply his expertise and experience from the Australian market to outline the macroeconomic context, consumer spending behaviour and retailer objectives at play in the NZ market. While the formal programme delivers valuable learning opportunities, the conference's broader value lies in its ability to connect people from across the industry. From manufacturers and brand owners to importers, exporters, retailers and government representatives, our annual conference creates occasions for conversations that lead to stronger industry alignment. Wednesday night’s Welcome Reception, sponsored by NIQ, and Thursday night’s Gala Dinner, sponsored by Cardinal, will provide delegates with opportunities to reconnect with colleagues, build new relationships and celebrate the industry. The fourth season of our docuseries, Shared Horizons, will be released at the Welcome Reception. Developed with our partners ASN Media, these videos tell the incredible stories of our FMCG companies - from smarter supply chains to innovating for good and celebrating homegrown successes. I’m looking forward to it! The NZFGC Annual Conference 2026 offers a timely chance to come together and engage in the discussions shaping the future of food and grocery in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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behindthebusiness
Catherine Langabeer Head of Sustainability Woolworths
Woolworths EMC Turns Stores Into Smart Stores Woolworths’ Energy Management Centre (EMC) saves Woolworths around NZD three million per year in energy and maintenance costs through a data-driven, centralised approach.
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s one of New Zealand's largest retailers, Woolworths operates a store network that consumes approximately one percent of the country’s total electricity. Catherine Langabeer, Woolworths’ Head of Sustainability, said the group has partnered with Bueno Analytics to transform this energy footprint. By leveraging real-time controls verification, the EMC project has delivered sustained reductions in electricity consumption, refrigerant leaks, and carbon emissions. “Over the last year, we have completed development of our Energy Management Centre - turning our traditional supermarkets into highly intelligent 'smart stores’,” said Langabeer. “This digital transformation has established a scalable, gold-standard blueprint for New Zealand’s large energy users, proving that data-led innovation can drive significant decarbonisation at an
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industrial scale.” Historically, store performance was managed through fragmented systems, with refrigeration, HVAC, lighting, and energy data often separated across different tools and vendor environments. This made it difficult to build a consistent picture of performance, validate changes after maintenance, or sustain improvements over time. At a portfolio level, reactive monitoring can also create alert fatigue, inconsistent outcomes between sites, and chronic performance drift that remains undetected for long periods. The key barrier, Langabeer said, was not the availability of data, but the ability to translate large volumes of operational data into verified, prioritised action across many sites, switching Woolworths’ model from reactive to proactive. The key was connecting Woolworths’ three most critical, energy-intensive asset classes: refrigeration, HVAC (heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning), and automated main store lighting. All are now brought together into a single cloud-based data ecosystem. The EMC now continuously audits over two million operational data points every five minutes across the country. The project also has predicted problems using a specialised predictive model called "Energy Slip" within the analytics platform. This system acts as an early-warning radar, tracking minute thermodynamic deviations and can now identify potential cooling system leaks with a 70 percent verified accuracy rate, supporting automated workorder generation for refrigerant technicians without manual validation. “It’s not all about the tech, however. Our highly capable energy team, including our Energy Innovation and Operations Manager Chitranjan Rathod, who joined us from Walmart, have been essential to ensuring this project is a success,” added Langabeer. She said the EMC project has significant benefits for the business and the planet and is expected to deliver over NZD three million in annual savings, driven by maintenance and energy savings, while also reducing demand on the national grid. The project also supported improved capital allocation through prioritisation and verification using high-resolution submetering data, ensuring future investments are directed toward the highestimpact opportunities. Beyond that significant commercial impact, Langabeer also saw noncommercial advantages, including workforce development, data-based performance validation, and reduced operational and food safety risk.
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Peelable Gummies
CONTACT YOUR ALLIANCE MARKETING SALES REPRESENTATIVE. ALTERNATIVELY CONTACT HAMAN hshahpari@alliancetrading.co.nz August 2026
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behindthebusiness
Photo credit: “Snap Send Solve”
Connecting Snappers And Solvers
Snap Send Solve is a free app that enables the public to photograph, geotag and report issues that need fixing in the community using their mobile phone.
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ast year alone, Snap Send Solve users made more than 1.7 million reports across New Zealand and Australia, covering issues such as dumped rubbish, overflowing bins, illegally parked cars, graffiti, vandalism, potholes, and damaged or dangerous trees. When someone submits a report, it includes all the information the responsible authority, including councils, utilities, and major retailers such as supermarkets, needs to respond with, such as photos and/or videos to identify the nature and severity of the issue clearly; geographic coordinates for precise location information; the issue type and category; and any other details the community member wants to share. Snap Send Solve data has shown that abandoned trolleys have become a major source of frustration in the community. In the past 12 months alone, New Zealanders
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have reported almost 12,000, up 9 percent from the prior year. “Abandoned trolleys often find their way a long distance from the store they are attached to and are reported dumped in rivers or waterways, blocking footpaths and generally creating an eyesore,” said a spokesperson for Snap Send Solve. Beyond abandoned trolleys, they said that, shopping centres often feature in reports on a range of hot-button issues, including illegal parking, damage to signs, roads, and footpaths, and dumped rubbish and litter. However, once the app has been downloaded, it takes less than a minute to take a photo and send a report. “The good news is that our data shows that most service providers respond quickly and effectively. The feedback we get from our Snappers is that 9 out of 10 of their reports are ultimately fixed or resolved.”
The spokesperson added that the lifeblood of Snap Send Solve was the community of more than a million Snap Send Solve “Snappers” who have taken the time to photograph and report problems that they see, giving councils, retailers and other service providers, the “Solvers”, greater visibility of issues so that they can respond and plan more effectively. Solvers who partner with Snap Send Solve gain access to efficient systems for managing trolley reports and to valuable data that inform policy-setting, decision-making, and asset management. The more service providers and retailers understand the scale and nature of the hotspot issues in the community, the more they can plan and respond. “Remember, shopping trolleys cost supermarkets and other retailers money to collect, repair or replace, so it’s in their best interests to work to reduce the problem.” n
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richmondnz.co.nz August 2026
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behindthebusiness
Colour-Coded Compliance, Department by Department Wells Hygiene NZ supports audit readiness and compliance with colour-coded segregation by department, so hygiene stays visible from Butchery to Bakery, and all in between. Vikan's ultra-hygienic, durable and ergonomic cleaning tools lock to colour-defined zones, stopping cross-contamination before it starts. The Hygienic Wall Bracket System stores them by department, turning colour coding into a storage solution auditors can verify at a glance. Built for operational efficiency and daily washdown, it's compliance you can see, so your team can get on with business.
Spotless Floors Without the Slowdown Supermarket floors take a beating every single day: trolley traffic, spills, dropped produce, and thousands of footsteps before you've even opened. Astrolift's scrubber range is built for exactly that pressure. Push-andGo handles tight aisles and daily touch-ups without slowing customers down. Walk-behind covers larger sales floors and back-of-house areas fast, for a genuinely clean finish. Ride-on clears wide floor areas in largeformat stores in a fraction of the time. Every machine comes backed by nationwide delivery, servicing, genuine parts, and flexible lease options. The result: spotless floors, every opening, with staff free to focus on customers instead of cleanup. Get your free quote at astrolift.co.nz
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Everyday Solutions For Your Business Operations
Founded in 2012 as a family-owned and operated business, Offshoot NZ set out with a clear mission: to provide proven, cost-effective products and services without compromising people or the planet.
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s awareness grew of the environmental impact of products and packaging, the company discovered it could offer sustainable products at cost-effective prices. Rather than long-term contracts, Offshoot NZ has focused on building strong customer relationships and providing practical solutions that meet businesses' dayto-day needs. Customer and market feedback has helped develop the company's own range of Offshoot Certified Biodegradable Wet Wipes. Designed for use across a range of industries including retail, the wipes are supported by services such as free delivery, installation and dispensers. Wesley Binedell, General Manager of Offshoot NZ, said that the demand for hygiene and sanitising products has changed considerably in recent years. Since COVID-19, consumers have become conscious of hygiene and the potential spread of germs, making hand and surface sanitising an ongoing consideration for supermarkets.
“The need for hand and trolley sanitising has increased, as customers are more aware of germs,” said Binedell. “The wet wipes we provide are a great solution for hand and surface sanitising. With supermarkets implementing more user-facing machines like fresh orange juice, our wipes are also a good solution for wiping hands and spillages, not to mention having them by the butchery where you sometimes pick up wet packets of meat.” Offshoot’s approach extends beyond supplying products as its dedicated customer service team also works with retailers to identify frequently used back-end products and opportunities to reduce costs. Binedell highlighted that some of the highest ongoing costs sit behind the scenes, such as machine till rolls, along with hidden administrative costs that can arise when everyday consumables are purchased from multiple suppliers. Multiple invoices, ordering systems, deliveries and processes can add complexity for store teams. Offshoot can supply a broad selection of back end and saleable essentials,
including toilet paper, chemicals, gloves, wipes, hand soap, packaging, machine till rolls and twist-handle paper bags, allowing retailers to consolidate more of their regular purchasing where appropriate to improve efficiency. “We set up individual accounts and monitor stock orders. After about three months, we can then suggest recurring orders on repeatedly used products, taking the stress away from running out of stock and ordering,” said Binedell. Looking ahead, Binedell said the greatest opportunity for retailers is to become smarter about how they purchase, manage and use consumables. By consolidating more frequently used products with a supplier like Offshoot that understands their requirements, retailers can potentially improve stock management, reduce admin and identify savings that would otherwise be overlooked. To learn more about how Offshoot can support your business, visit www. offshootstore.co.nz or contact sales@ offshootpaper.co.nz n
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behindthebusiness
Out of sight, but not out of mind Behind every well-stocked supermarket shelf is a team of merchandisers and warehouse distribution crews, loading and unloading products.
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hese workers keep the supply of goods moving but carry some of the highest injury risks. The good news is, these risks are well understood, and there are practical, proven steps we can take to reduce them. The most effective approach is to design the risk out of the work, rather than relying on people to be extra careful. The main risks behind the shelves A few hazards come up regularly for behind-the-scenes teams: • Lifting and moving stock. Back, shoulder and knee strain builds up slowly, through repetition rather than in one big injury. • Moving goods and vehicles. People and machines sharing tight spaces is a hotspot for potential injury. • Falling objects. Watch stock stored up high, poorly stacked pallets and unrestrained loads. • Cold, slips and machinery. Working in
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For vehicles and docks: • Keep people and machines apart with clear, marked walkways and exclusion zones. • Set and enforce speed limits. • Use dock safety gear such as vehicle restraints, wheel chocks and simple communication systems. • Make sure operators are trained and supervised, and check racking regularly so loads stay stable. The best solutions remove the risk altogether. A store manager removed forklift operations during a time when workers were replenishing items at night, so the team had a clear window to get in and out safely and avoid near-misses. For cold, machinery and fatigue: • Rotate people out of the cold and provide warm clothing. • Guard machinery and use lockout steps so equipment can't start up during cleaning or clearing. • Only trained workers are permitted to operate machinery. • Design rosters with realistic workloads, proper breaks, and support for anyone working alone or overnight. We often modify machinery to fit the task, which can lead to new risks not correctly identified. Scheduling regular risk assessments of machinery, alongside the workers using the equipment, is vital to ensure that safe practices are understood and followed.
chillers, freezers and machinery bring their own risks. • Fatigue and pressure. Night shifts, early starts, a relentless pace and working alone can affect both safety and mental wellbeing. Practical steps to reduce injury: For lifting and moving stock • Use equipment that takes the weight, for example, electric pallet movers, height adjustable trolleys, scissor lifts and conveyors. • Order stock in smaller, lighter cartons. • Store heavy items at waist height. • Mix up tasks across a shift so no one repeats the same movement for hours. A good example is the uneven distribution across bread trolleys. A simple fix is to place the heavier items, such as crumpets, in the middle trays and leave the lighter bread for the lower and higher slots. That way people aren't reaching up or bending down for the heaviest products.
The real difference-maker: talking with your team Your team know where the hazards are located, and involving your staff in finding solutions encourages a workplace where people feel safe to speak up, and interventions get implemented. A great tool for these conversations is the 4Ds framework. Identifying what is dumb, dangerous, different or difficult is a simple structure that helps everyone learn from everyday work. Behind-the-scenes teams may be out of the customer's sight, but they should never be out of mind. When we look after their health, safety and wellbeing, everyone benefits, and everyone goes home to their family safe and well. ShopCare provides support with realworld guidance that helps improve worker outcomes. Thanks to ACC funding, most of our tools and training are free to use.
Selena Armstrong CEO, ShopCare
Smart Scams, Smarter Security As security standards for business payments continue to evolve, account validation and payee verification services have emerged as valuable tools for businesses as part of a multilayered verification approach.
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ichelle Cram, VP of Customer Operations, Eftsure, said that although these are important signals, they’re not a complete solution. “This is because many fraud attacks begin earlier in the payment process, when a fraudster impersonates a supplier and convinces an organisation to update vendor records,” said Cram. “If those details are accepted into the system, account validation may confirm that the account belongs to the named account holder, but it doesn’t independently verify that the supplier relationship or change request is legitimate.” Eftsure’s role is to help organisations verify both. It combines account validation signals with independent, multi-layered supplier verification, drawing on a broad range of data points, a network of existing verified suppliers, and additional verification checks to help confirm a business is paying the intended supplier, not simply a valid account. Most of this happens in the background, giving finance teams greater assurance while reducing the manual effort required to verify supplier and bank details changes. However, bank account validation helps validate account details, but it does not independently verify that a supplier or bank detail change request is legitimate. Therefore, effective fraud prevention relies on multiple controls working together. “We add multi-layered verification that
runs automatically against our vendor database and integrates into existing finance and ERP workflows. That means we help teams operate more securely and intelligently without extra manual checks,” she said. “Often, there is no extra step at all.” Cram says their efforts are focused on higher-risk events, such as onboarding a new supplier or changing bank details, and a closer specialist investigation only kicks in when a warning sign appears. Routine, alreadyverified activity flows straight through. The alternative (a fraud incident) can be far more disruptive as these often trigger investigations, remediation work, vendor communication and significant internal effort. Eftsure provides layers of verification at critical points while reducing the manual checking burden on finance teams. It believes a targeted verification step is a reasonable trade-off when compared with the operational, financial and reputational impact of a fraudulent payment. “The biggest vulnerability we see is the gap between controls.” Banks, ERP systems and finance teams all play important roles, but they have been designed to address different risks at different points in the process. Fraudsters increasingly target trusted relationships and rely on social engineering rather than technical compromise by itself. As a result, organisations remain vulnerable when supplier onboarding, bank detail changes and payment approvals are not independently verified. Cram highlighted that if a supplier has already been verified by its bank, has a long trading history, and is known to the customer, it is often where finance teams can be most exposed: trust built over time. “The more established the supplier relationship, the less likely a routine request is to be questioned.” Bank verification helps confirm account details, but it doesn't verify whether the supplier actually requested the change.
Many fraudsters understand this distinction and use it to steal money: legitimate suppliers can still be impersonated through compromised email accounts, spoofed domains and a range of other social engineering tactics. Cram added that this sort of vulnerability will continue to intensify as AI-generated media becomes more pervasive and persuasive, as it has already become significantly easier to impersonate trusted contacts on the phone and even via video, as seen in high-profile cases like the Arup scam and the more recent deepfake scam in Singapore. An important distinction that Cram emphasised was between risk reduction and risk transfer. Risk transfer may help cover losses after an incident, but it doesn't undo the operational disruption or reputational impact. Eftsure’s role is to help reduce the likelihood of fraud by preventing fraudulent payment changes before funds are transferred. The responsibility for a payment ultimately sits with the organisation that authorises it: controls and technology support can support the decision, but they don't remove accountability. Looking ahead, Cram believes banks will continue strengthening their fraud controls. At the same time, fraud will increasingly occur before a payment reaches the bank, through supplier impersonation, social engineering, and fraudulent changes to bank details. Cram says this is where specialist providers add value. As fraud continues to target gaps in controls, businesses will need a dedicated, multi-layered verification layer focused on supplier identity and payment integrity, one that spans the whole ecosystem rather than any single bank or system. “Combining automated checks with specialist investigation when needed keeps that role complementary to bank controls, not duplicative.” n August 2026
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spotlightLocal
The Netherby Legends
For Four Square Netherby owneroperator Kim Woods, being locally owned and operated means much more than having her name on the wall.
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t means being part of the community that supports the store every day and making sure that support flows both ways. “Our customers are the reason we’re here. They choose to support a locally owned business, so for us we must give back to the community that gives so much to us,” said Woods. Located in the heart of a growing part of Ashburton, Four Square Netherby has become a convenient full-service supermarket for local families, workers and businesses. But Woods believes its real point of difference lies in the connection between the store, its team, and the people who shop there. “Many of our customers aren’t just customers. They’re our neighbours, friends, local business owners, parents of our school kids and people we run into around town. When you own a business in the community, there’s a real sense of responsibility to do a good job and contribute wherever you can.” That philosophy extends beyond the store. Supporting local initiatives, getting behind community events and organisations, providing employment and development opportunities for local people, and simply being there when the community needs support are all important parts of how Woods sees the role of a locally owned supermarket. “If Ashburton is doing well, we’re doing well too. We don’t take the support we receive for granted. Where we can support local, give something back or help make something happen in our community, we want to.” Inside the store, one of the biggest areas of growth has been convenience. As customers’ lives have become busier, Woods and her
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team have continued developing their foodto-go and ready-made ranges, responding directly to what their customers are buying and asking for. “There’s no point filling shelves with products people don’t want. We listen to our customers, we try things, and if something works, we do more of it.” Whether it’s a quick lunch, an easy dinner after work or something that can go straight onto the family table, Woods wants Netherby to make everyday life a little easier for its customers. Customers have also embraced loyalty initiatives such as Club+, which Woods sees as another opportunity to give something back to the people who regularly choose to shop locally; now they get to enjoy the reward across multiple banners. “Kiwis love a good deal, and Club+ gives us another way to reward the people who support us week after week.” Sustainability is approached in the same practical way, from reducing food waste and supporting local suppliers where possible to making thoughtful decisions about how the store operates. Behind all of it is the team, the
#netherbylegends, who Woods says are central to the store’s success. “Retail can be fast-paced and unpredictable, and you quickly realise that the strength of your business is the people standing beside you. We’ve got a team that genuinely cares about our customers and our store, and I’m incredibly proud of what they contribute.” One recent highlight for the Netherby Legends was the store’s Lotto department selling a First Division winning ticket, an exciting moment not only for the team but for the wider community. “It was pretty special. In a community like ours, everyone gets behind those moments and shares in the excitement. That’s one of the things I love about operating a local store.” Woods’ vision is simple: for Four Square Netherby to be Ashburton’s favourite local supermarket, a place known for great service, great products, friendly faces and genuine community connection. “Looking ahead, Woods wants Four Square Netherby to continue growing alongside its community, investing in its people and its store while always giving back to the community that has given so much to them.” n
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Small Brands, Big Impact
Over the past few years small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the beverage sector have been dynamically responding to consumer needs and their communities – and it’s paying off.
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he NZ Beverage Council is seeing this firsthand, with a growing number of SMEs joining the Council and bringing fresh thinking, agility and innovation to New Zealand’s non-alcoholic beverage sector. NZ Beverage Council co-chair Nick Sawyer says the shift has been increasingly apparent across the sector. “This is especially important for our growing base of SME members who are contributing to the rapid success of our industry,” Nick says. When we spoke to NZBC Communications Coordinator Stacey Sinton, she noted that New Zealand SMEs in the food and beverage sector are proving that speed, community empathy and authentic innovation are repeatedly beating corporate scale. Stacey’s points of reference include a recently published article by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) called “Startup’s are Eating Big Food’s Lunch” by David Wainer, noting how global FMCG giants are losing growth share to “nimble challengers”. “In New Zealand, the local market is being carved up by agile domestic SME’s capitalising on health consciousness, functional benefits and direct consumer empathy”. This growth in challenger brands isn’t unique to New Zealand. Cited in the WSJ article, Bain & Company’s research found insurgent brands accounted for nearly 39 percent of incremental category growth in 2024. In non-alcoholic beverages specifically, insurgent brands captured more than 32 percent of category growth while accounting for less than three percent of market share. What’s driving the change? Bain &
Company cites, among other factors, the way in which marketing and messaging is conducted. “Uninspired legacy products are losing ground to transparent, community-led alternatives” notes Charlotte Apps of Bain & Company. Her opinion is seconded by that of American journalist David Wainer who says “disruptors are grabbing share through nimble marketing and rapid product rollouts”. One advantage for smaller brands is their ability to move quickly. The growth of social media and influencer marketing has also given businesses new ways to reach and engage directly with consumers, often without the scale of traditional advertising campaigns. Consumer focus has shifted to algorithmic social platforms like TikTok and Instagram, creating opportunities for agile brands to respond quickly to trends and conversations. NZ Beverage Council member Vitaco is all over consumer needs and happy to talk about change. Vitaco’s Head of Marketing Simon Cheape says the energy category is evolving beyond traditional caffeine-led products. “Consumers are increasingly seeking functional benefits and brands with authentic credentials. Musashi has been able to leverage its heritage in sports nutrition to offer a differentiated energy proposition that bridges everyday energy and performance nutrition. “That point of difference, alongside a combination of influencer-led and traditional marketing initiatives, plus strong in-store presence, has helped us attract new consumers, drive category growth and demonstrate that challenger brands can
successfully reshape established categories.” Meanwhile, Stacey says Vitaco is one of a growing number of businesses contributing to NZBC and the wider non-alcoholic beverage sector. She says members appreciate how NZBC plays a strong advocacy role and recognise that quality advocacy and reliable information are key to keeping up and staying ahead. “Our purpose is to help shape a thriving, non-alcoholic beverage industry for Aotearoa. Together, member businesses work to strengthen the sector’s collective voice, support best practice, and help shape a thriving, responsible and future-focused beverage industry. This demonstrates the importance of the non-alcoholic stakeholders being part of the NZBC,” Stacey says. NZBC also takes an active role on key industry issues including obesity, sugar tax, healthy kids, recycling and responsible advertising. Through regular events, industry communications, our flagship conference and the New Zealand Beverage Awards, NZBC keeps our community connected and informed, helping members stay ahead of what’s changing, understand what it means for their business, and respond with confidence in a fast-moving industry.
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20minwith
Where the Boundaries Sit
Hard negotiation over pricing, rebates and promotional funding remains part of the grocery business, but retailers and suppliers need to know where commercial bargaining can start to create legal risk.
James Craig Partner Simpson Grierson
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upermarketNews spoke to James Craig, Partner at Simpson Grierson, about where those boundaries sit under the Grocery Supply Code, Commerce Act, and Fair Trading Act. “Hard commercial negotiation is not, in itself, unlawful under any of these regimes. Risk arises where negotiated or imposed payment terms cross from legitimate bargaining into prohibited conduct,” said Craig. Under the Grocery Supply Code, some conduct is prohibited regardless of whether a supplier agrees to it. Regulated grocery retailers cannot require shrinkage compensation or wastage payments for stock under the retailer’s control. They also cannot retrospectively vary a supply agreement, such as backdating a rebate to an already-traded period. Other conduct depends on whether it is reasonable, including payments for listing or stocking, payments towards the retailer’s
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business activities, and payments that fund the costs of a promotion. Reasonableness is assessed against the likely benefit to each party and the retailer’s own cost contribution. “The main risk here comes from skipping the framework, not from negotiating hard.” Retailers cannot cut an order that is part of a funded promotion by more than 10 percent without written consent, set off an amount against a supplier invoice without written consent, or vary a grocery supply agreement without supplier consent or an express, clearly triggered clause in the agreement. Delaying a response to a supplier’s request for a price increase as a tactic to delay decisions can also create risk. There are further protections around the way suppliers are treated. The good-faith duty cannot be contracted out of, while retaliation is also prohibited, including exerting funding pressure following a supplier complaint or engagement with the Commerce Commission. For retailers and suppliers reviewing existing arrangements, there are several warning signs worth looking for. These include payments without a written explanation, listing fees on products already stocked, payments disproportionate to the genuine benefit received by a supplier and promotional funding that is not reconciled against stock subsequently sold at full price. Other red flags include unjustified invoice setoffs, slow responses to price increases used as a tactic, and payments demanded as “industry standard” without reasonable grounds. Behaviour can also be a warning sign, including retaliation following supplier pushback or a complaint, “take it or leave
it” pressure, significantly unbalanced terms, and rebates being used to control downstream retail pricing or lock out smaller retailers. Range reviews, reduced orders, shelf changes and delisting decisions are another area where retailers need a clear commercial basis for their decisions. “Anchor delisting to genuine, pre-existing commercial reasons, for example agreed quality or quantity standards or notified targets, rather than reasoning invented after the fact,” said Craig. “Follow the mandatory delisting process every time.” That means providing reasonable written notice of the decision, the reasons for it and the supplier’s right to review, and responding promptly in writing if a review is requested. The same discipline applies to order cuts,
shelf moves and cancellations following a supplier dispute. “Any such action following a supplier dispute needs an independently documented commercial basis.” Published ranging and shelf principles, applied consistently and without favouring private label, can also provide a more defensible basis for decisions than ad hoc changes. For suppliers that believe an agreement, payment or retailer decision may not comply with the Code, the first step is to raise the concern directly with the regulated grocery retailer in writing. Suppliers can also request written reasons for certain business activity payments, promotional funding, set-offs or delisting decisions. “Document everything as you go. Keep a timeline linking your complaint to any
adverse conduct, since the RGR must prove any such action was genuinely commercial,” said Craig. If the Commerce Commission contacts a business about a grocery-sector concern, management should immediately establish exactly what has been received, instruct legal counsel, preserve relevant documents, check insurance and manage confidentiality. Common mistakes include responding without involving counsel, failing to preserve documents promptly, treating interviews casually and providing either more or less information than a notice requires. Pricing also requires care where a cooperative, franchise group or other business has independently owned outlets. “A head office may recommend prices, run recommended national promotions and provide pricing guidance, but independently
owned operators must remain free to determine their own retail prices and to compete with one another on price.” For a recommended national promotion, independently owned operators need to retain the discretion to offer a lower price. Interview responses provided by James Craig, Partner at Simpson Grierson, with assistance from Jenna Bernstein, Solicitor. Leading New Zealand law firm
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Value, Pressure and a Reset of Supplier Expectations The first half of 2026 has reinforced a new reality for New Zealand grocery retail: inflation may have eased, but shoppers, retailers and suppliers are now operating in a permanently higher-cost environment.
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Neil Mooddy General Manager - ANZ Region Focus Insights
insights
public and regulatory pressure around fairness and value perception. The New Zealand Government also announced plans late last year to accelerate supermarket competition and support new market entrants in response to concerns around the sector’s duopoly structure. Against this backdrop, the latest NZ Grocery Shopper Report from Focus Insights highlights a shopper market now “Resigned to Reality” - one which is no longer shocked by higher grocery prices, but permanently adapting behaviours to cope with them. With seventy percent expecting grocery prices to continue increasing over the next 12 months, nearly all shoppers have changed how they buy groceries, with a stronger focus on promotions, private label, bulk buying and shopping across multiple retailers for value.
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espite some slight improvements to the domestic economy coming through increasing exports, a surge in tourism and a number of interest rate cuts helping the mortgage belt, consumer confidence has dropped again on the back of the US-Israel war on Iran, as it impacts the global economy through higher oil prices, which are being felt at the petrol pump and flowing through into the broader retail market beyond this. Recent headlines have continued to focus on supermarket competition, pricing scrutiny and cost-of-living pressures. The New Zealand Commerce Commission has continued investigations into pricing accuracy and promotional transparency across major retailers, reinforcing growing
Operational Pressures Intensify Retailers are balancing rising wages, freight and utilities costs while still needing to present strong value credentials to increasingly price-sensitive shoppers. Investments in online retail fulfillment, digital loyalty activation to improve efficiency, and the further rollout of antitheft measures to help reduce operational cost leakage are further elements to be managed in the trading mix. Digital engagement is also becoming increasingly important to shoppers. Seventy-one percent of shoppers now use supermarket apps, websites or digital catalogues as part of their grocery journey, particularly for price comparison, rewards and meal planning. Retailer Expectations of Suppliers Are Changing Heading into 2027, retailer expectations of suppliers are evolving with greater expectations for strategic category partnerships. Shopper insights delivery, data-led recommendations, operational reliability and commercially viable innovation. The importance of suppliers understanding store and cluster demographics, local ranging requirements and category management processes
and priorities when seeking ranging opportunities is also essential. Commercially, retailers are becoming more selective with ranging decisions as Private Label continues expanding beyond staples into health, beauty, pet and convenience categories. Suppliers are increasingly expected to justify shelf space through category incrementality, shopper relevance and margin contribution rather than relying purely on brand scale. Innovation expectations are also shifting. Retailers are becoming less interested in ‘line extensions’ or ‘me too products’ and are more focused on products that solve genuine shopper needs around value, convenience, affordability or health. Retailer exclusives are also a priority as retailers look for stronger returns in a slow, low-growth environment. Transparency and trust are becoming equally critical. Shopper sensitivity to pricing issues and shrinkflation has risen sharply, with many consumers viewing hidden pack reductions as deceptive. This is increasing retailer expectations around clearer value communication, transparent pricing and stronger justification for price or pack-size changes. The New Zealand Grocery Supply Code of Conduct has also shifted retailer-supplier dynamics, creating stronger expectations around fairness, transparency and accountability between supermarkets and suppliers. Ultimately, New Zealand grocery retail is entering a more disciplined and performance-driven era. Over the next 12 months, both retailers and suppliers will need to compete harder on value, trust, operational consistency and meaningful innovation as shoppers continue prioritising affordability and practicality above almost everything else.
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insights
Finding New Pathways to Growth in New Zealand Growth remains challenging for New Zealand FMCG manufacturers and retailers.
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hile the market delivered $28.8 billion in sales and 2.9% value growth, consumers remain cautious, with 56% reporting that they feel financially worse off. At the same time, 44% of supermarket value sales are now sold on promotion, highlighting how carefully many New Zealanders are managing household budgets. Against this backdrop, manufacturers are increasingly looking beyond traditional category competition to identify new sources of demand. At NIQ's recent Pathways to Growth 2030 event, three major forces emerged as likely to shape FMCG growth over the coming decade: a more multicultural New Zealand, the rise of intentional eating, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in shopping decisions.
A More Multicultural New Zealand (figure 1) New Zealand's population is becoming increasingly diverse. Today, New Zealand Europeans account for around 67% of the population, but that figure is projected to fall to approximately 52% by 2048. Over the same period, the Asian population is expected to increase from 19% to 33% of the population, creating new opportunities across food, beverage and grocery categories. Consumer behaviour is already reflecting this shift. NIQ research found that 77% of Asian consumers and 80% of Pacific consumers agree they enjoy trying new cuisines, compared with 64% of New Zealand Europeans. Asian consumers are also significantly more likely to seek out foods from different cultural backgrounds. This growing appetite for discovery is helping drive demand for Korean flavours,
(figure 1) Growth in demand for new and different foods/cuisines
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Southeast Asian street food, fermented foods, matcha and sweet-and-spicy flavour combinations. Social media is accelerating these trends, with 71% of Pacific consumers and 55% of Asian consumers citing social media as a source of food discovery. The Rise of Intentional Eating (figure 2) Consumers have never had more visibility into their own health. Fitness trackers, sleep monitoring and health apps are helping people better understand their wellbeing and make more deliberate decisions about food and beverages. This is particularly evident in weight management. NIQ research found that 49% of New Zealand consumers say managing body weight influences how they eat, with 58% describing it as a personal lifestyle choice rather than a response to a medical condition.
GLP-1 medications are accelerating this trend. While household penetration remains relatively low today, awareness has already reached 77% of New Zealand consumers, and 67% of Kiwis are either overweight or obese, highlighting the size of the addressable market. Among GLP-1 users, eating habits are becoming more deliberate. 60% say they snack less often, compared with 40% of non-users, while spending on discretionary categories such as snack foods, biscuits and frozen desserts is declining. At the same time, consumers are placing greater value on functional benefits. 52% of GLP-1 users actively seek high-protein products, compared with 39% of non-users, while demand for satiety, fibre and gut-health benefits is also significantly higher. Enjoyment, however, remains important. 83% of GLP-1 users still experience cravings, and 73% say they enjoy trying new meals and snacks, creating opportunities for premium indulgence alongside better-foryou offerings.
and shortlist creation, brands need to ensure they can be discovered, understood and recommended. Product content, ratings, reviews and clearly communicated benefits are becoming more important in influencing purchase decisions. Looking Ahead While these trends may appear distinct, they point to a common challenge: understanding where consumer demand is shifting. Whether driven by demographic change, health goals or AI-assisted discovery,
the strongest growth opportunities are emerging around evolving consumer needs, new occasions and more deliberate purchase decisions. Manufacturers that successfully identify and respond to these shifts will be best positioned to create the next pathways to growth.
Simona Betiu Executive Director Strategic Analytics & Insights, NIQ ANZ
(figure 2) A second force reshaping demand is intentional eating.
AI Is Influencing Product Discovery (figure 3) Although adoption remains relatively early in New Zealand, 22% of consumers report using AI tools during the shopping process, with usage rising to 36% among Millennials and 33% among Gen Z shoppers. Product recommendations are currently the most common use case, with 44% of AI users seeking AI-generated product suggestions. As AI increasingly shapes consideration (figure 3) The third force is artificial intelligence
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column
MUSHROOMS: SMALL CHANGES, BIGGER BASKETS
Mushroom quality is won or lost long before a punnet reaches the shelf, and much of it comes down to the basics, says Dave Hyland of Mercer Mushrooms.
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he most common mistakes we see are around handling and display," Hyland explains. "Mushrooms left too long in ambient conditions throughout the distribution chain, and in many cases displayed in ambient conditions in-store, is where the damage happens. Hyland confirms. His advice for restocking is simple — when replacing product, replace the entire carton, rather than topping up on top of existing stock. Temperature discipline remains just as critical as it was last season. "Yes, 2–4°C is still the standard," he says. Packaging is also evolving, and with a purpose. "As growers, we have endeavoured to select and present packaging that enhances shelf life, therefore stretching the consumer dollar," Hyland says. Mercer Mushrooms has recently introduced a removable lid across its 200g and 400g punnets, allowing shoppers to take mushrooms out and replace the lid to help maintain freshness in the fridge at home. Riding the meat-alternative wave Mushrooms continue to gain traction globally as a meat substitute, and Hyland believes retailers have a real opportunity to help that trend take hold in New Zealand. Cross-merchandising is top of his list — displaying mushrooms in the meat department alongside other proteins — paired with simple recipe inspiration, such as using a Portobello mushroom in place of a burger patty. Seasonality also has more room to run. Mushrooms are well established as
a winter comfort food, and Hyland says there’s scope to lean into that further. But he’s keen for retailers not to stop there. "It should also be expressed as a summer BBQ option, alongside salads, which are popular," he says. Portabello mushrooms offer a valuable source of several key B vitamins and minerals in every serving. They provide a good source of niacin (vitamin B3), which supports energy metabolism and healthy skin, along with riboflavin (vitamin B2) to help convert food into usable energy. They are also a source of pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), vitamin B6, and selenium — an antioxidant mineral that supports immune function — as well as potassium, which plays an important role in maintaining healthy blood pressure and muscle function. With this impressive nutrient profile, Portabello mushrooms make an easy, versatile addition to a balanced diet, whether grilled as a meat alternative, sliced into salads, or added to pastas and stir-fries. The pricing conversation retailers could consider If there’s one piece of advice Hyland would give supermarket buyers and category managers this year, it’s about how mushrooms are priced and promoted. "Advertise per serve, instead of per kilo," he says. Per-serve, mushrooms are genuinely economical — but priced per kilo, they can look expensive next to other vegetables, reinforcing a perception among some shoppers that mushrooms are a luxury item to be bought only occasionally.
Steady demand, global lessons On the season so far, Hyland reports demand has been steady. Hyland has just returned from Mushroom Days in Europe, the triennial event that brings together growers from around the world. Innovation and automation were front and centre. "Most growers worldwide are seeking more cost-effective and efficient ways to produce and grow mushrooms," he says, noting that robotics — as in other parts of horticulture — is fast becoming mainstream, and increasingly a necessity for economic sustainability. That pressure is being felt acutely closer to home. Compliance costs and rising supply chain expenses have squeezed growers hard, particularly across Australia and New Zealand, where the number of growers has continued to shrink — New Zealand’s industry has now consolidated down to just three growers. Recent fuel price increases, driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, are adding further pressure to an already tight margin environment. For retailers, the message is clear: careful handling, smart merchandising and clearer messaging around per-serve value could all help mushrooms punch above their weight in the produce aisle this year.
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seasonalactivations
Turn the Weekly Shop into a Christmas Experience Christmas is a time when people want to feel something special, and supermarkets have an incredible opportunity to bring a little Christmas magic into the everyday.
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uring the festive season, supermarkets become more than somewhere to pick up groceries. They are filled with Christmas entertaining, gift-buying, family traditions, and anticipation. With the right Christmas design, the supermarket itself can become part of that experience. Celebrations Group's approach is about creating Christmas environments that are beautiful, memorable, and commercially smart, bringing a festive atmosphere into the store without compromising valuable retail space or customer flow. Make an Entrance The Christmas experience should begin the moment customers arrive. Imagine entering beneath a spectacular illuminated Christmas arch, walking past oversized baubles and beautifully decorated trees, or being welcomed by a statement installation that says "Christmas is here". A strong entrance creates excitement, establishes the theme and gives customers an immediate sense that something special is happening inside. Look Up and Create Impact In a supermarket, some of the best decorating space isn't on the floor - it's overhead. Suspended baubles, stars, illuminated motifs, cascading lights and oversized Christmas decorations can transform aisles while leaving valuable merchandising space untouched. Repeating these elements throughout the store creates visual rhythm and draws customers deeper into the environment. Feature installations can then highlight key destinations such as bakery, fresh produce, deli, confectionery and Christmas promotional areas. The result is a supermarket that feels completely dressed for Christmas without feeling cluttered.
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Create Moments People Remember Christmas decorating can do more than make a store look beautiful. It can create moments of discovery. A giant illuminated Christmas tree. An oversized present that children can walk through. A playful Christmas character. A spectacular ceiling installation. Or a photo moment families naturally want to stop and enjoy. These unexpected touches bring personality to the shopping experience and create opportunities for customers to photograph, share and talk about the store. Designed Around Your Brand Christmas doesn't have to mean traditional red, green and gold. A decorating scheme can reflect the personality of the supermarket and its customers, from contemporary metallics and sophisticated neutrals to playful colour, nostalgic Christmas or a distinctly New Zealand summer Christmas. Existing brand colours can be
incorporated, signature elements can be created, and installations can be designed specifically for the architecture of each store. Beautiful. Practical. Built for Retail. Behind every great Christmas installation is careful planning. Celebrations Group considers customer movement, trolley access, sightlines, merchandising, signage, operational requirements and installation logistics from the beginning. Decorations are designed to create maximum impact while allowing the supermarket to continue doing what it does best. And with clever design, key pieces can be reused, reconfigured, and refreshed in future seasons, building a Christmas collection that becomes more valuable over time. Because the best Christmas decorating doesn't just fill a space, it changes how the space feels. And for a few weeks each year, even the weekly supermarket shop can feel like part of the magic of Christmas.
Celebrating Seasonal Produce
Bethany Hughes, co-founder of Fresh Activations, said that there are so many opportunities outside the traditional retail calendar for seasonal in-store activations, especially in the fresh produce category.
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ne of the biggest ones she highlighted was back-toschool, as fresh produce can be part of lunchbox-friendly snacks. School holidays were another great opportunity to engage children with a product and experience they will remember and ask for again. Sporting events and even long weekends can also be great chances to connect with shoppers in a meaningful way, as these occasions give people a reason to shop
differently. Whether they're entertaining or celebrating with family and friends, shoppers tend to be open to trying something new. According to Hughes, fresh produce can move from an everyday ingredient to an occasion hero, and this wasn’t just for high-end items like cherries or truffles. Any product with the right story can fit into these events, as making a brand or product a core memory through the occasion can instil repeat purchase behaviour that can last for years.
She said the brands that stand out create an experience around the product, not just themed packaging. Sampling, eyecatching displays and genuine conversations with shoppers bring these occasions to life, and it takes lead time from ranging and display decisions being made well ahead of the date, so that produce becomes part of the shopper's plan rather than a last-minute thought at the checkout. Hughes added that season launch moments deserved much more attention, too. “A new variety or region coming into season can be a genuine news event for a category, but it's too often treated as a supply chain milestone rather than a marketing one,” she said. “There's a real opportunity to give these moments the same energy that other industries devote to product launches.” Hughes has also observed more brands embracing cultural celebrations such as Lunar New Year, Diwali, and Eid and as Australia's communities continue to diversify, she believes there is plenty of room for retailers to do more, with the right range and gifting formats in place well ahead of the date. For her, a successful in-store seasonal activation starts with getting the product into people's hands at the right time. Whether in a flagship supermarket or a local greengrocer, every shopper should have the same experience with a brand, and when someone can convey the story with a great display in a busy location, that can do more for a sale than a discounted shelf price. She mentioned that packaging was often the first thing people saw, so if it caught attention and clearly communicated the product, interest could be easily generated. However, the product still has to deliver. “Great packaging gets people to pick it up, great quality gets them coming back. This works best when the story behind the pack is real: a specific grower, a specific region, or a variety available for only a short window. That gives shoppers something genuine to buy into, not just a seasonal wrapper.” Educational, eye-catching POS can make that story visible at a glance, and the introduction of consumer-facing product QR codes has allowed brands to communicate this well after purchase and even before. In fresh produce specifically, Hughes saw a real opportunity to celebrate what's in season and share the stories behind the growers. As consumers become increasingly interested in knowing where their food comes from and who produces it, that trend, and the appetite for someone to tell that story well, will only continue to grow. n
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seasonalactivations
Sporting Events Trigger CrossCategory Collabs Every year, Christmas has remained the hero in seasonal campaigns, particularly for entertaining or gifting-related products, alongside Easter, Back to School, and Halloween, with a rise in Chinese and Lunar New Year over the last decade.
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owever, in recent years, sporting events have triggered a large number of promotions, crosscategory collaborations, and partnerships for key events such as an All Blacks game, test or one-day cricket, footy finals, or the FIFA World Cup. The key ingredients of a successful seasonal in-store activation, according to Carla Bridge, General Manager, Shop! Australia & New Zealand, was that it generally solved a real issue for shoppers on the path to purchase rather than just increasing visibility in-store. An example she cited was TipTop’s The Bun that Makes the Burger campaign,
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which ran in Australian supermarkets to increase burger bun purchases around football finals. This was based on the insight that shoppers were abandoning their bun purchase because they couldn't find the right one; however, unplanned purchases spiked when buns sat next to the meat fixture. As a result, TipTop created a display that addressed that specific friction point for shoppers, rather than just reminding customers to buy burger buns for the football season. Other key differentiators Bridge mentioned included creating general disruption to habitual buying, such as
occasion marketing when it's built around a moment in the shopper's actual life, not just a date on the calendar. Cross-category collaborations can also work well; for instance, pairing marshmallows and hot chocolate for winterthemed promotions, sauce with meat or pies, pasta with sauces, or Mexican meal kits with avocados. “Some of the best seasonal activations don’t focus on a conventional occasion such as Easter or Father’s Day; they can revolve around creating new occasions for meals or sharing,” said Bridge. “Shoppers plan meals and occasions, not category purchases and collaborations that reflect that perform better.” Bridge suggested that brands and marketers must ensure that strong creative ideas are coupled with practicality and align stock and display scale to the store level. She added that although some shopper and retail marketing campaigns or elements may be exclusive to certain retailers, they should be part of a broader overall strategy with different touchpoints or creative hooks across retailers or channels. Marketers who are not already approaching campaigns with an omnichannel mindset will increasingly fall behind. Bridge also expects to see the rise of non-traditional players such as Uber and Amazon cashing in on occasion-based marketing. n
Key To Campaign Effectiveness
“Price gets people to compare; feeling gets people to buy,” said Daniel Cormack, General Manager, Extravert.
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ccording to Cormack, what separates the most effective campaigns from the rest was having a clear emotional hook, not just a discount. He said supermarkets can create seasonal activations that feel fresh and relevant each year, while still delivering value for increasingly budget-conscious shoppers through value-led discounts such as multi-day countdowns, as well as in-store activations such as sampling or experiential
experiences to drive shopper engagement and purchase of meal solutions. Beyond traditional retail events such as Christmas and Easter, Cormack mentioned that seasonal or cultural occasions such as Lunar New Year and Diwali have been underutilised. In contrast, others, such as Halloween and footy finals, have become huge. He highlighted that exclusive in-store displays do the heaviest lifting for basketfilling because they physically group
complementary items a shopper wouldn't have thought to combine, encourage lapsed shoppers to purchase again, and give shoppers on autopilot more visibility in-store. “Most people look to supermarkets for meal inspiration, so focusing on how they can feed a family cost-effectively and on time can be a great opportunity.” He added that rather than rolling out the same mince pies every year, brands could create a themed display and change the packaging theme and merchandising. “Themed packaging works even on products that haven't changed at all, signals this moment matters, and cues shoppers into gifting or entertaining mode. Arnotts Tim Tam do this well,” he said. Limited editions can also create a fearof-missing-out effect and give shoppers a reason to visit now rather than next time. They're also highly shareable on social media, such as the current Woolworths Ooshie campaign. n
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CONVENIENCE&oil
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Good in the Hood Voting Opens
Voting for Z Energy’s flagship community programme, Good in the Hood, opens next week, giving customers the chance to help direct a share of NZD one million to community groups.
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ow in its 14th year and to mark the start of voting, Z has shared the stories of three Taranaki organisations that took part in Good in the Hood last year and are making a meaningful difference in their communities every day. Z's GM of Corporate Affairs, Haley Mortimer, said the stories highlighted the real impact community support can have. “Every orange token is a simple way for customers to back the people and organisations making a difference in their communities. Good in the Hood helps local groups raise awareness of the work they do, while providing funding that can help them continue supporting the people who rely on them,” said Mortimer. One of those organisations is Horses Helping Humans, which supports youth to build confidence, resilience and life skills through equine-assisted learning programmes. Founder Laura Menzies said Good in the Hood has created opportunities that go beyond financial support. "When the ponies visited our local Z station during voting, it gave us the chance to meet people in the community and share what we do. Through those conversations
we've received referrals from other organisations and support that has helped more rangatahi access our programmes," said Menzies. For Nicky Kuklinski from the Inglewood Volunteer Fire Brigade, the programme provided a simple way for local people to support the service’s volunteers. “The community knows that we’re only volunteers, so even when they can’t support us with their own money, they’re able to do so by putting their token in our container, which is just fantastic,” said Kuklinski. Food rescue organisation On the House has also seen the benefits. General Manager Terry Hancock said the funding helped keep their service running while also creating valuable connections with other community groups. “The support we get means a lot. It keeps our transport running, and our ability to collect and distribute food humming,” said Hancock. From the 18th of August to the 21st of September, customers visiting participating Z stations can vote for one of four local community groups selected by their service station. Each participating Z station will give away NZD 5,000 in total, split between the four non-profit organisations and community groups they have selected. n August 2026
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CONVENIENCE&oil
Woolworths Unveils Commercial EV Charging Hub Woolworths has expanded its electric delivery-truck fleet and infrastructure with the opening of a purpose-built 15-bay fast-charging hub at its Penrose eStore.
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he state-of-the-art facility highlighted Woolworths’ commitment to driving sustainable delivery solutions, launching alongside the rapid expansion of its active electric fleet. Woolworths New Zealand Managing Director, Sally Copland, said the scale-up was a direct investment in the wellbeing of New Zealand communities. “By decarbonising our transport operations, we are bringing whisper-quiet, zero-emissions deliveries straight to our customers' doors,” said Copland. “Having grown from just three newgeneration electric trucks last November to 27 by the end of this month, we are
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undisputedly leading last-mile home delivery decarbonisation right where our customers live.” The fleet has already delivered massive results. By the end of August, Woolworths’ electric trucks will have clocked almost 800,000 kilometres, the equivalent of travelling from Cape Reinga to Bluff return 190 times, and are on track to pass one million kilometres by December 2026. The new trucks represent a major technological upgrade over legacy diesel vehicles, featuring state-of-the-art driverassistance systems, 360-degree cameras, and air brakes to improve community safety. “Our original EV journey began with a pioneering fleet in 2019. While the vehicles
in that fleet have long since been retired, over seven years of real-world testing has given us the data necessary to safely scale our fleet today alongside our expert technology and logistics partners,” added Copland. It’s also exciting to be leading the way across both Australia and New Zealand within Woolworths Group, and I’m proud of the innovation our team here have driven to make this achievement a reality. Woolworths has committed to a 100 percent electric last-mile fleet. There are 57 next-generation electric trucks scheduled to be operational nationwide by the end of June next year, and the new Penrose hub paves the way for all 42 of the site's delivery trucks to be fully electrified by then. n
Tobacco Sales Continue to Fall
New data showed a continued decline in cigarette and tobacco sales, which Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said was encouraging and consistent with the long-term fall in smoking rates.
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he latest annual tobacco returns showed the volume of tobacco sold in New Zealand fell by more than 20 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year and has more than halved over the past decade. Since 2010, the volume of tobacco sold here has reduced by two-thirds, and the number of cigarettes sold per capita is down nearly 80 percent. “The one concerning aspect of the figures is what appears to be an accelerated decline in the sale of legal tobacco products in the last few years. It would be great if that reflected a corresponding decline in smoking rates, but it is likely that it is also to do with the availability of black-market cigarettes," said Costello. "It’s harder to encourage people to quit or use alternatives like vapes when they can get their hands on cheap cigarettes, which is why I asked Customs, Police, Health New Zealand, and the Ministry of Health to join forces to better tackle the illegal tobacco trade.” The Minister said the Government was focused on three key areas to reduce the harm from smoking: cracking down on illegal cigarette sales, preventing young people from starting smoking, and providing support to help current smokers quit.
Progress on youth prevention Compliance and enforcement The Government’s law changes to ban disposable vapes, put in display restrictions and increase penalties for underage tobacco and vape sales came into effect a year ago and have been backed by a significant increase in enforcement activity. • Health NZ completed 6,313 compliance visits and 4,922 controlled purchase operations (CPO’s) of both Tobacco and Vape Retailers (11,235 total) between 1 July 2025 and 31 June 2026. • This is a 50 percent increase in compliance activity from 2024/25. • By the 31st of June 2026, Smokefree Enforcement Officers visited 3851 stores and completed 368 CPO’s, focusing on the June 2025 amendments. As a result, 228 Compliance letters were issued, and 157 infringement files were prepared, indicating a compliance rate of 91 percent. Smokefree promotion Health New Zealand’s long‑standing partnership with Smokefreerockquest and Smokefree Tangata Beats to embed smokefree messages in youth culture was
extended this year for a further three years to 2028. Participation has almost doubled over 20 years, rising from 550 acts in 2005 to 1,010 in 2025, and again to 1,102 acts in 2026, and the events reached more than 17,000 people last year “Youth smoking rates are already very low, so this is about reaching young people early, in places where they connect to reinforce that not smoking is the right choice." Helping smokers quit Providing smokers the right information, tools and support to help them quit is critical. Health NZ has recently updated its website to provide trusted information on smoking and vaping for anyone who wants it. This week it updated the national stop smoking clinical guidelines to support GPs and other professionals in their conversations with patients who smoke and to provide pathways to stop smoking support. There have also been a number of initiatives to improve the effectiveness of stop smoking providers, particularly targeting high-risk communities, including targeted marketing, increased use of incentives to quit, and the provision of Health NZ‑funded vape kits. In the first four months of the year, over three‑quarters of those who used the kits as a stop-smoking tool achieved a verified four‑week quit. “Smoking remains one of the most harmful and preventable causes of illness and early death in New Zealand. Vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking and can be an effective cessation tool for people who smoke. Our efforts remain firmly focused on reducing smoking harm," said Costello. n August 2026
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