Hamilton to get social supermarket amid cost-of-living crisis

Wednesday, 10 June 2026

A new social supermarket in Hamilton aims to help struggling working families put food on the table.

The social supermarket will be run by Kirikiriroa Family Services Trust, in conjunction with Foodstuffs and will be located on Frankton’s Norton Rd.

The trust said more than two-thirds of people seeking food support are working families and households that have never needed assistance before.

Trust chief executive Jaye Wainui said it will be stocked like a normal supermarket with items such as butter, margarine, fruit and meat.

Unlike a traditional food bank, a social supermarket is set up much like a regular supermarket, with aisles of groceries and paying for the food.

People will receive a number of points, based on their circumstances, to select the items they need from the shelves.

“We give them a trolley and they can go throughout and choose whatever they want that suits their circumstances.”

Wainui said a working mum with two children will get about 80 points to spend.

But social supermarket shoppers won’t be going in like a regular supermarket but will go in one at a time.

It comes as the NZ Hunger Monitor showed that 40% of Waikato families were “food insecure“, the highest in the country and well above the national average of 33%

The social supermarket is “very much needed within our region”.

“Every day we meet parents who are making impossible choices between paying rent, keeping the lights on and putting food on the table.”

“Many of these families have never struggled to access enough food before. They are working hard, doing their best for their tamariki, but rising costs are stretching household budgets beyond breaking point.“

The trust will initially accept up to 80 referrals per week from within its organisation and other community services and will depend on need and circumstances.

“For us, the trust has a preferential focus on those with tamariki, so children, if there is a great need there, then obviously we’re, going to prioritise those with tamariki, as opposed to, single individuals, rangatahi as well, of course, anyone under 24.”

Wainui said running the supermarket will cost them $700,000 per year, with $380,000 going towards keeping the shelves and fridges stocked. Having a social supermarket is “what the community requires at this time”.

“If we reflect on the past three years, even more recently with the Budget, the cost of living circumstances are some of the worst I think we’ve felt in a very long time.”

The supermarket opens on August 18.