Wellington Railway Station gets pizza vending machine - no supermarket replacement in sight
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Almost two years after it lost its supermarket, Wellington Railway Station now has a pizza vending machine ‒ but it’s still unknown if a new supermarket is on the way.
Wellington Railway Station has been without a supermarket for almost two years, since New World ended its lease with KiwiRail.
Following the supermarket’s departure, the site has remained empty. However, a pizza vending machine, run by NomNom Pizza, has been erected inside the station’s main atrium.
A sign warned the machine is not operational yet but will be soon, with owners Stephanie and Vincent Boudet saying they’re hoping to have it ready by next week.
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Stephanie said the pizzas have a 30cm diameter and will be priced between $14.50 to $25.
The flavours will be: a margherita classic called Simply the Best; Meat me Later with spicy tomato sauce, beef, lardons and chorizo; Mexican-style pizza Hot Chick; Pepperholic with peperoni and chorizo; Garden Party with vege toppings; Fourmidable with four cheeses, walnuts and honey; and Spud Buddy with potatoes, lardons, onions and cheese.
Far from this being frozen food, the pizzas are pre-made and 80% cooked by the Boudets’ chefs in their Hutt Valley commercial kitchen before being delivered to machine.
“It's not frozen and we want to be very, very clear with that,” Stephanie said. “Because we can hear that, ‘it will be frozen pizza, and it's a microwave’. It's not a microwave. It's an oven.”
The business is locally owned, and has hired delivery drivers and chefs from around the region, Stephanie said.
The machine acts as both a fridge and an oven, the couple said, with the pizzas stored there until ordered and cooked.
Pizzas will be available 24/7, with refills taking place daily as demand requires, the pair said.
There are currently two other NomNom Pizza vending machines in Wellington, with five planned in total.
The couple said they were excited by the buzz surrounding Wellington Railway Station’s pizza machine, and looking forward to getting their pizzas ready for everyone to try.
“People they were talking about, ‘is there a human inside of the machine?’ It was very funny.”
Stephanie stressed the couple were not looking to pull customers away from operating restaurants ‒ just to be another option on the market, for people looking to eat hot and affordable meals.
“In Wellington, you have several options to get food. You have supermarkets, you have restaurant and you have trucks, and now you will have a machine. It's a new option.”
Commuters still mourn loss of supermarket
While excited about the machine, commentators on Wellington’s Reddit forum appeared to still miss the convenience of a railway adjacent supermarket.
One said: “This completely makes up for not having a fully stocked supermarket.”
Another user said, “just give me New World back …”
Wellington commuter Sadani said it had been useful having a supermarket at the station: “You can grab food and go, otherwise you have to go to a shop.”
When New World left the station, both KiwiRail and Foodstuffs told The Post they were unable to comment on why the “commercially sensitive” negotiations failed, but said they were unable to reach a viable agreement despite both parties’ best efforts.
Foodstuffs said in an online post the company was “disappointed” they were not able to renew its lease, particularly for its staff.
Regarding the empty lot, KiwiRail executive general manager for property Anna Allen said KiwiRail was continuing to engage with potential tenants for the empty site as they completed earthquake strengthening design work at Wellington Railway Station.
In the meantime, there was a small convenience store and Trax Cafe and Bar at the station. Allen also said there were also food trucks outside the station.
She did not respond to a query asking why New World had ended the lease.
Following New World’s departure, KiwiRail said there would be six food trucks outside the station for the majority of 2024: The Greek Food Truck, Nada Bakery, Hong Kong Foodie, Gluten Free Food Truck, Shouk NZ and Kosmos Coffee.
However, Nada Bakery owner Michael Gray said their food truck had moved to Kenepuru in December.