Foodstuffs donates nearly $140k worth of food to food banks

Monday, 30 January 2023

Fresh Collective Mt Albert was still closed on Monday following severe flood damage.

Foodstuffs has donated $137,000 worth of stock following the unprecedented floods in Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato over the weekend.

Fresh Collective, Mt Albert, New World Newmarket and Pak ‘n Save Wairau Rd were still closed on Monday after the stores suffered flood damage.

Social media posts show customers wading through knee-high water at Pak ‘n Save Wairau Rd, and food floating down the aisles, on Friday night.

Foodstuffs North Island chief executive Chris Quin said it had been a very intense few days for the co-operative and suppliers.

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At one point, 14 stores were impacted in a severe to moderate way and Aucklanders were advised to only “buy what they need” as staff worked around the clock to get stores open.

“We’ve now fully assessed the impact.”

The City of Sails is bracing for more rain, with fears already-damaged properties will be hit again.

On Sunday, Foodstuffs had donated undamaged goods to foodbanks.

Quin was unable to comment or provide an update on how much stock had to be binned and how much it would cost.

He was confident that despite a few transport delays, stock was “in good supply”, and its distribution centre staff were “in pretty good shape under the circumstances”.

But it was still too soon to tell what impact the rain would have on locally grown produce.

“Our buying teams are staying in close contact with our suppliers and growers, so we can anticipate any potential issues with supply and work with them on their recovery plans.”

Countdown’s Mairangi Bay store was still closed on Monday, as it continued the clean-up after floodwaters poured into the store on Friday afternoon.

A staff member said they were told to throw out anything unsalvageable, while items that were in good condition would be donated to food banks.

A skip bin filled to the brim with damaged product could be seen outside the store on Saturday.

working with local food rescue partner, KiwiHarvest, to ensure all food that was unsaleable but still good enough to eat was redirected to Aucklanders in need.

“The rest of our stores, and our entire supply chain is open and operating as usual,” she said.