With the cost of living skyrocketing around the world, once all the bills are paid, Kiwis are becoming increasingly concerned about having the funds left to get a decent dinner on the table. The Foodstuffs’ co-operatives behind NZ’s PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square stores are taking the stance that accessing healthy affordable food should never be a privilege for New Zealanders.
The food price index, released by StatsNZ earlier this month, shows food prices grew by 2.7 percent in January. Of course, a major perpetrator is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has meant two years of sporadic lockdowns and level changes for Kiwis, while on a global scale has led to holes in supply chains, labour shortages and rises in the prices of fuel, transport, equipment and ingredients for food manufacturers and suppliers.
But outlier events can also be blamed - inclement weather events around the country in the last few months have led to the eyebrow-raising cost of iceberg lettuce for example.
As the cost of living rises exponentially, it would be easy to write off supermarkets as 'being there to make a buck'. But Foodstuffs has made a strong commitment to be Here for NZ - making ‘supporting Kiwis to access healthy and affordable food’ their priority social promise to New Zealanders.
Willa Hand, Foodstuffs North Island’s Head of Membership Experience told Newshub that behind the scenes they’ve been working to support charity organisations and community partners, while making sure the food on their own shelves is of a fair price and good quality.
And with the onset of Omicron, the 100 percent New Zealand owned and operated co-ops, Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island, are in the midst of rolling out plans to ramp up the support even further in 2022.
One of those ways we support is through the recently established Foodstuffs North Island Here For NZ Committee, which Hand says was established pretty much to coincide with last year's snap lockdown in mid-August. Funded by the North Island owner operators, the committee has already ringfenced $1million of support this year to be distributed to Kiwi organisations who help those who’re struggling to put food on the table.
"Here for NZ is the way we talk about our commitment to New Zealanders to give back."
Foodstuffs has been helping get food to New Zealanders through Aotearoa's already established network of City Missions, local food banks and organisations who are responsible for the distribution of surplus food, like the NZ Food Network.
"We've seen the need from the City Missions and food banks go through the roof."
Hand said that when Delta arrived she heard from food bank organisers that there were "queues of people turning up" concerned about feeding their families in lockdown.
"We knew the best way for us to help was to make sure these incredible organisations had the funds and product they needed to keep going. Our role becomes about assisting them however we can to support their communities, whether that be donations to enable them to purchase food, or keeping their stockrooms filled for food donations."
The feedback, she added, has been overwhelming.
"I rang some of them this morning – to talk about how we can help with getting ahead of the Omicron outbreak - and it's just been overwhelming gratitude. I'm hearing: 'Oh my gosh, you don't know how needed this is,' and they're right, we're not on the front line - and they are and we're grateful for them and the work they do in our communities.
"It gives me purpose in my day to make these calls and support these organisations on behalf of Foodstuffs, particularly as our front line teams are in the supermarkets.
"Our responsibility here is seeing which groups of people don't have the means to purchase foods and supporting the foodbanks and social supermarkets who're working in those spaces. Then our stores, who're all owner operated, can look after their communities, teams and customers."
In 2021, through their food rescue and local foodbank partnerships, Foodstuffs donated the equivalent of 9 million meals and made headlines with their partnership with Wellington City Mission to partner on a social supermarket, where people who need access to food can choose the items they need in a supermarket environment. There are plans for at least three more social supermarket partnerships planned for 2022.
Another of Foodstuffs' partners is NZ Food Network, a charity established two years ago distributing surplus and donated food from producers, growers and wholesalers around the country in bulk to food hubs, which include food rescue organisations, charities and iwi.
Foodstuffs North Island is about to tick over a $1 million dollars-worth of product donated to NZFN and the Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island co-ops have collectively just committed another $100k donation to support NZFN's work this year.
NZ Food Network CEO Gavin Findlay says Foodstuffs' support has been critically needed over the last couple of years especially through lockdowns and changing traffic light systems.
"Families who are really struggling to afford their grocery bill week to week, you take even a few hours off them - let alone extended time not working - and that really bites hard," he said.
"We're seeing families reaching out for support services who have never done it before."
Findlay says that as the cost of living rises and lockdowns hit hard, food offerings are where they can help.
"You know, landlords can't give you free rent, phone companies won't give you free phones or phone plans, gas stations won't give you free petrol…but one thing we do have a surplus of in this country is food. That's where we can come in and help alleviate those struggles."
He said Foodstuffs have "really gone to another level" with their donations and philanthropic efforts during this time, and reflected on the way the pandemic has shown the importance of looking out for our neighbours and communities.
"Certain societies around the world have had the village connection but I'm not so sure we've always had that in the quote unquote 'Western world'," he said.
"But in times of disaster, or even just issues, we're seeing communities looking out for each other and working together."
It's a statement echoed by Hand, who says that Foodstuffs have been part of the fabric of Aotearoa for almost 100 years and they "absolutely" have a sense of responsibility to be here for New Zealanders.
“It's everyone at Foodstuffs: our store owners, our team members, our support centre teams, our DC and transport teams - we've got a responsibility and a deep passion to do our part, to be Here for NZ and we’re all in.
"Our stores do a huge amount in their local communities - each supermarket has a food bank partner," she revealed.
"It's an absolute pleasure and privilege to partner with these organisations - and not just the big ones but the little ones out in the regions as well. They're a part of us and what we do, which is help keep NZ fed whatever your circumstances.
"We can't do our part to support New Zealanders if we're not working with incredible partners. They've made it possible to support far more people than we could on our own."
This article was created for Foodstuffs.
