Latest news with #WoolworthsNewZealand
Scoop
2 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Woolworths New Zealand Statement Re: Commerce Commission Publications Today
Attributed to Woolworths New Zealand's Interim Managing Director Pieter de Wet: We know New Zealanders are facing cost of living pressures and our absolute priority is delivering great products, great prices and a fantastic shopping experience for our customers as well as building a meaningful wholesale business. To do that, we work with over 1,400 local and international suppliers. We're proud of our positive relationships with suppliers who consistently rank us as the best grocery retailer to do business with - including in today's survey, and our own research. If we don't get it right with our suppliers, we can't get it right for our customers either. There's always room for improvement, and we're talking to our suppliers all the time so we can keep doing better. We support the Grocery Supply Code because we feel that consistent rules hold everyone to the same high standard and help businesses of all sizes to grow and succeed. Wholesale is a new and fast evolving area for us. We're building the best offering possible for the wider grocery industry and kiwi shoppers. In just three years we've developed a business which provides grocery products to more than 100 retail sites and we have over 60 customers using our service to provide more choices for shoppers. We're working closely with suppliers and wholesale customers to further improve and develop our wholesale business. We'll now take the time to read the draft documents issued by the Commerce Commission in detail and will work constructively with the Commission through the submission process.
1News
19-05-2025
- Business
- 1News
Council considers regulations against abandoning supermarket trolleys
Christchurch councillors say shopping trolleys are being abandoned on footpaths and in rivers, causing a nuisance and costing businesses millions of dollars. Council staff responded to reports of 6313 abandoned trolleys in the city in the year to last October, more than half of which came from the country's two biggest supermarket chains —2238 from Woolworths New Zealand and 1652 from Foodstuffs-owned Pak'nSave and New World. RNZ has been told trolleys cost an average of $300 but could cost up to $700 each, with Woolworths spending more than $1.5 million per year on abandoned trolleys nationwide. Abandoned trolleys were generally reported via the Snap Send Solve app and directed to the retailer who owned the trolley for collection. On Wednesday, councillors would consider a staff report outlining regulatory and non-regulatory options for addressing the problem by either by adding a clause to an existing waste bylaw or working with Retail NZ on a memorandum of understanding. Under that approach, they would collaborate on preventive measures and collecting and returning trolleys to stores. Staff also canvassed distance and time limits around trolley use, including coin deposit locks and wheel locks, although they noted the coin system could easily be circumvented by inserting another item like a key into the slot and people could keep pushing trolleys with locked wheels, breaking them. Woolworths New Zealand said it had trolley collection services to help keep streets tidy. "We want to keep our local communities tidy and trolley-free and ensure that we have enough trolleys available in our stores," a spokesperson said. "We spend over $1.5 million a year on collecting abandoned trolleys, and our contractors collect around 80,000 trolleys and return them to our stores every year." Foodstuffs said most customers did the right thing and returned trolleys to their designated bays. "Out of the hundreds used each week, only a small number are taken off-site. We regularly patrol nearby streets to collect abandoned trolleys, and when members of the public report one, we aim to retrieve it as quickly as possible," a spokesperson said. "However, trolleys do occasionally go missing, and it's always disappointing when they're stolen or dumped. We encourage the public to report any misplaced or stolen trolleys so we can arrange prompt collection.'' Councillor Yani Johanson said he had once seen 10 trolleys in one street, and in one case it took more than a month and 10 complaints for a trolley to be collected. "The people that own the shopping trolleys have a duty of care to the environment and the community to pick them up and to stop them from being abandoned in the first place," he said. Johanson had requested the council to take a similar approach to Auckland Council, which had added shopping trolleys as a clause in its waste management and minimisation bylaw in 2019. Councillor Aaron Keown said supermarkets and other shopping precincts should have areas beyond which trolleys cannot go, otherwise it would be treated as theft. "I'm not allowed to walk into the store and grab six blocks of chocolate and walk out, trolleys are exactly the same," he said. "People take this liberty that 'it's a shopping trolley, I'll just use it to get my goods home'. It's not for that, stop doing it." Councillor Sara Templeton said trolleys were sometimes abandoned because people did not have another way to take their groceries home. "In Ōtautahi Christchurch we have 13% of adults who don't have a driver's licence. For many of them, being able to transport groceries home in another way is really valuable," she said. "Yes, they should be taking them back afterwards, but I'm not in favour of stopping people being able to remove trolleys from business premises." Retail NZ advocacy manager Ann-Marie Johnson said she favoured a solution involving both the council and retailers. "Then you've got willing partners on both sides to investigate the issue, whereas if it's put into a bylaw, that can be a heavy-hitting approach," she said. By RNZ's Joe Shaw
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Council considering options to deal with abandoned supermarket trolley problem
By Joe Shaw of RNZ Christchurch councillors say shopping trolleys are being abandoned on footpaths and in rivers, causing a nuisance and costing businesses millions of dollars. Council staff responded to reports of 6313 abandoned trolleys in the city in the year to last October, more than half of which came from the country's two biggest supermarket chains - 2238 from Woolworths New Zealand and 1652 from Foodstuffs-owned Pak'nSave and New World. RNZ has been told trolleys cost an average of $300 but could cost up to $700 each, with Woolworths spending more than $1.5 million per year on abandoned trolleys nationwide. Abandoned trolleys were generally reported via the Snap Send Solve app and directed to the retailer who owned the trolley for collection. On Wednesday, councillors would consider a staff report outlining regulatory and non-regulatory options for addressing the problem by either by adding a clause to an existing waste bylaw or working with Retail NZ on a memorandum of understanding. Under that approach, they would collaborate on preventive measures and collecting and returning trolleys to stores. Staff also canvassed distance and time limits around trolley use, including coin deposit locks and wheel locks, although they noted the coin system could easily be circumvented by inserting another item like a key into the slot and people could keep pushing trolleys with locked wheels, breaking them. Woolworths New Zealand said it had trolley collection services to help keep streets tidy. "We want to keep our local communities tidy and trolley-free and ensure that we have enough trolleys available in our stores. We spend over $1.5 million a year on collecting abandoned trolleys, and our contractors collect around 80,000 trolleys and return them to our stores every year," a spokesperson said. Foodstuffs said most customers did the right thing and returned trolleys to their designated bays. "Out of the hundreds used each week, only a small number are taken off-site. We regularly patrol nearby streets to collect abandoned trolleys, and when members of the public report one, we aim to retrieve it as quickly as possible," a spokesperson said. "However, trolleys do occasionally go missing, and it's always disappointing when they're stolen or dumped. We encourage the public to report any misplaced or stolen trolleys so we can arrange prompt collection.'' Councillor Yani Johanson said he had once seen 10 trolleys in one street, and in one case it took more than a month and 10 complaints for a trolley to be collected. "The people that own the shopping trolleys have a duty of care to the environment and the community to pick them up and to stop them from being abandoned in the first place," he said. Johanson had requested the council to take a similar approach to Auckland Council, which had added shopping trolleys as a clause in its waste management and minimisation bylaw in 2019. Councillor Aaron Keown said supermarkets and other shopping precincts should have areas beyond which trolleys cannot go, otherwise it would be treated as theft. "I'm not allowed to walk into the store and grab six blocks of chocolate and walk out, trolleys are exactly the same," he said. "People take this liberty that 'it's a shopping trolley, I'll just use it to get my goods home'. It's not for that, stop doing it." Councillor Sara Templeton said trolleys were sometimes abandoned because people did not have another way to take their groceries home. "In Ōtautahi Christchurch we have 13 per cent of adults who don't have a driver's licence. For many of them, being able to transport groceries home in another way is really valuable," she said. "Yes, they should be taking them back afterwards, but I'm not in favour of stopping people being able to remove trolleys from business premises." Retail NZ advocacy manager Ann-Marie Johnson said she favoured a solution involving both the council and retailers. "Then you've got willing partners on both sides to investigate the issue, whereas if it's put into a bylaw, that can be a heavy-hitting approach," she said.
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Abandoned trolleys costing supermarkets millions: council
By Joe Shaw of RNZ Christchurch councillors say shopping trolleys are being abandoned on footpaths and in rivers, causing a nuisance and costing businesses millions of dollars. Council staff responded to reports of 6313 abandoned trolleys in the city in the year to last October, more than half of which came from the country's two biggest supermarket chains - 2238 from Woolworths New Zealand and 1652 from Foodstuffs-owned Pak'nSave and New World. RNZ has been told trolleys cost an average of $300 but could cost up to $700 each, with Woolworths spending more than $1.5 million per year on abandoned trolleys nationwide. Abandoned trolleys were generally reported via the Snap Send Solve app and directed to the retailer who owned the trolley for collection. On Wednesday, councillors would consider a staff report outlining regulatory and non-regulatory options for addressing the problem by either by adding a clause to an existing waste bylaw or working with Retail NZ on a memorandum of understanding. Under that approach, they would collaborate on preventive measures and collecting and returning trolleys to stores. Staff also canvassed distance and time limits around trolley use, including coin deposit locks and wheel locks, although they noted the coin system could easily be circumvented by inserting another item like a key into the slot and people could keep pushing trolleys with locked wheels, breaking them. Woolworths New Zealand said it had trolley collection services to help keep streets tidy. "We want to keep our local communities tidy and trolley-free and ensure that we have enough trolleys available in our stores. We spend over $1.5 million a year on collecting abandoned trolleys, and our contractors collect around 80,000 trolleys and return them to our stores every year," a spokesperson said. Foodstuffs said most customers did the right thing and returned trolleys to their designated bays. "Out of the hundreds used each week, only a small number are taken off-site. We regularly patrol nearby streets to collect abandoned trolleys, and when members of the public report one, we aim to retrieve it as quickly as possible," a spokesperson said. "However, trolleys do occasionally go missing, and it's always disappointing when they're stolen or dumped. We encourage the public to report any misplaced or stolen trolleys so we can arrange prompt collection.'' Councillor Yani Johanson said he had once seen 10 trolleys in one street, and in one case it took more than a month and 10 complaints for a trolley to be collected. "The people that own the shopping trolleys have a duty of care to the environment and the community to pick them up and to stop them from being abandoned in the first place," he said. Johanson had requested the council to take a similar approach to Auckland Council, which had added shopping trolleys as a clause in its waste management and minimisation bylaw in 2019. Councillor Aaron Keown said supermarkets and other shopping precincts should have areas beyond which trolleys cannot go, otherwise it would be treated as theft. "I'm not allowed to walk into the store and grab six blocks of chocolate and walk out, trolleys are exactly the same," he said. "People take this liberty that 'it's a shopping trolley, I'll just use it to get my goods home'. It's not for that, stop doing it." Councillor Sara Templeton said trolleys were sometimes abandoned because people did not have another way to take their groceries home. "In Ōtautahi Christchurch we have 13 per cent of adults who don't have a driver's licence. For many of them, being able to transport groceries home in another way is really valuable," she said. "Yes, they should be taking them back afterwards, but I'm not in favour of stopping people being able to remove trolleys from business premises." Retail NZ advocacy manager Ann-Marie Johnson said she favoured a solution involving both the council and retailers. "Then you've got willing partners on both sides to investigate the issue, whereas if it's put into a bylaw, that can be a heavy-hitting approach," she said.
RNZ News
01-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Woolworths NZ sales rise despite grocery price decrease
Woolworths New Zealand's third quarter sales rose 4.8 percent. Photo: Supplied / Woolworths Woolworths New Zealand's third quarter sales rose 4.8 percent to nearly $2.12 billion. However, the grocer said there was a 0.3 percent drop in prices, led down by fruit and vegetables, such as potatoes, tomatoes and citrus, which offset increases in meat and dairy in the three months ended 6 April. "We know Kiwi customers are still facing cost of living pressures, and delivering value continues to be our priority," Woolworths New Zealand interim managing director Pieter de Wet said. "We've deliberately invested in keeping prices on key products as low as possible for as long as possible for our customers. The decline in average prices this quarter is also a good sign that food inflation is easing which is very welcome news. "However, we are a small, exporting country that's buffeted by international dynamics, and while rising dairy and beef prices at the moment are great news for our farmers, it's no secret that this has a knock-on effect for kiwi households. "As we head into the rest of the year, we'll continue to closely monitor our costs and remain focussed on meaningful value for our customers." De Wet said a near 24 percent increase in eCommerce sales reflected the changing ways New Zealanders were choosing to shop for their food. "More than ever, customers can shop around and compare prices and products online to choose the best option for their needs and budget. "We're continuing to grow our eCommerce network so we can provide even more convenience with options like Direct to Boot now available in 52 of our stores." Overall group sales, which included the Australian business rose 3.2 percent to A$17.3b. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
