The story
The first Foodstuffs entity was formed in Auckland in 1922. On 6 July 1922, Foodstuffs founder J Heaton Barker called together members of the Auckland Master Grocers' Association to discuss plans for the formation of a co-operative buying group. The buying group expanded in 1925 with the introduction of Four Square branding on members' stores. Similar co-operative buying groups, were set up in other parts of the country, with Wellington commencing also in 1922, Christchurch in 1928 and Dunedin in 1948.
Foodstuffs NZ Limited began in 1933 as a wholesaler called Dominion Wholesalers Limited. The original owners are documented as Foodstuffs Limited (Auckland), United Buyers Limited (Wellington), Amalgamated Buyers Limited (Christchurch), changing its name in 1949 to Foodstuffs (NZ) Limited.
In 1996 the co-operatives act in New Zealand, came into effect which requires legal registration of co-operatives. From this time, Foodstuffs Wellington, and Foodstuffs South Island registered as a co-operative, and Foodstuffs Auckland maintained a Limited Share Company structure. Foodstuffs Auckland decision to maintain the Foodstuffs Perpetuation Trust, and Protection Trust represents a major barrier for it to be considered a co-operative legally under the current laws.
There have been strategic mergers between the groups, and until 2013 there were three companies: Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd; Foodstuffs (Wellington) Co-operative Society Ltd, and Foodstuffs South Island Ltd. Each operated independently and autonomously with its own board of directors, chief executive officer and management structure. There were no common members or shareholders. The organisation has undergone change, adopting supermarkets with the formation of the New World banner in 1963. The Pak'nSave banner began later, and the first store was opened in Kaitaia in 1985.
In 2006 Foodstuffs acquired a 10% stake in The Warehouse for $150 million. This was a time when The Warehouse was pushing to enter the grocery business. Later that year, Foodstuffs applied to the Commerce Commission to make an acquisition of The Warehouse in cooperation with Pacific Equity Partners. Foodstuff's stake in The Warehouse was later sold in 2021 for a loss.
On 7 February 2013, Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd and Foodstuffs (Wellington) Co-operative Society Ltd announced a planned merger, proceeding to merge without requesting regulatory approval, unlike the more recent 2023 merger clearance request. The merged Foodstuffs North Island entity, ceased to be registered as a co-operative, and started trading on 1 September 2013.
In September 2017 Foodstuffs announced that they had a goal to stop selling cage eggs by 2027. This followed an announcement by Countdown a few months prior that they would stop selling cage eggs by 2024. Foodstuffs' Pams brand has been cage free since 2008.
In August 2018 Foodstuffs announced that beginning on 1 January 2019, they would stop selling plastic bags within their stores. In 2022 Foodstuffs North Island announced that 29 of its North Island stores had started using facial recognition technology as a crime prevention measure.
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In November 2023 Foodstuffs proposed to merge Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island into one entity. Foodstuffs argued that this would reduce costs due to a lack of duplication. However, the Commerce Commission blocked the merger in October 2024, stating that the buying power of the combined entity would be greater than what Foodstuffs North and South Island had individually, which would reduce competition and allow them to purchase from their suppliers at lower prices.
In February 2024 Foodstuffs North Island began trialling facial recognition technology, in use since 2022, in Pak'nSave and New World stores to detect people who have previously been trespassed. The Privacy Commissioner has expressed concerns about the technology's rate of false matches, which occurs higher in people of colour and women.
On 18 May 2026, Foodstuffs announced that it would be launching a new Club+ loyalty programme across its Pak'nSave, New World and Four Square supermarkets from 15 June 2026. The Club+ programme replaces these supermarket's separate loyalty programmes. The rollout of Club+ in mid-June 2026 was plagued by several problems including customers having trouble scanning the Club+ app on their phones at check-outs, delays in getting the verification code needed to set up the app, and discounts not appearing until the payment screen.
From Wikipedia’s article on Foodstuffs (company), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4