'Shop normal' warning as supermarkets prep for Christmas

Friday, 10 December 2021

Easy ideas for left over Christmas ham.

Foodstuffs is encouraging supermarket shoppers to “shop normal” as it gears up for a rush on Christmas classics.

Foodstuffs owns the Pak ‘n Save, New World and Four Square brands.

Dominic Quin, head of marketing and customer experience at Foodstuffs New Zealand, said the co-operative was gearing up for another big Christmas, but encouraged customers to only buy what they needed.

“We have been working hard and planning much earlier than we normally would to reduce the ongoing impact Covid-19 has on our supply chain.

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Lamb is a favourite for Christmas dinner.

“We have a good supply of products continuously arriving to our stores nationwide. Over the holiday period, people tend to buy a little bit more than they need, so we are encouraging everyone to continue to shop normal,” he said.

Last year, nearly 1.5 million corn on the cob were sold by Foodstuffs supermarkets in the 14 days before Christmas, as well as 486,962 legs of lamb sold between December 10 and 24 last year.

For dessert, customers bought 160,391 cartons of 1 kilogram vanilla custard, and 35,873 plain double trifle sponges, five times more compared to weekly average sale over the previous three months.

Countdown said, during the Christmas week, New Zealanders consume about five weeks' worth of normal fresh cream consumption.

It has been dealing with a supply disruption caused by strikes at its Auckland distribution centre but a spokesperson said it was working to get products back into shops and “was looking in good shape in the lead-up to Christmas”.

Global freight challenges had been going on for more than 18 months, which had increased wait times and costs to get products to New Zealand.

Trifle sponge, strawberries, cream and custard are all best sellers during the silly season.

“To make sure we’re as prepared as possible for Christmas we’ve done a lot of forward planning, and have brought in early shipments of most of our seasonal Christmas products, which are now ready in stores.

“There are plenty of local products available, including meat, seafood, fresh breads and pastries from our bakeries. Fresh summer fruit and veges are also in season, and with the recent spell of warmer weather we’re seeing festive favourites like strawberries in plentiful supply and an early run on summer sweetcorn ready to go for those Christmas barbecues.

“The only import category we’re seeing continuing issues with is cat food, but there’s plenty to go around as long as no one goes overboard on buying up Christmas food for the family cat.”

Shoppers could notice their bills are a bit higher this year.

Infometrics chief economist Gareth Kiernan said food prices were increasing at a rate of about 3 per cent a year, compared to the 1 per cent average recorded between 2011 and 20198.

“Looking through the food categories and products that are published by Stats NZ, the strongest price rises over the last year include vegetables and some fruit, lamb, dairy products, eggs, and some baked products. Some of the vegetable pricing is likely to weather-related and could change before Christmas, but the other pricing reflects higher international commodity prices which are forcing up local prices.

“Higher fuel prices could also start to show through, leading to increases in food prices more across the board.”