Latest news with #WoolworthsNewZealand
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
An image of meat products for sale at Woolworths repulses the internet as the supermarket says it was trying to cut waste
A photo of a Woolworths meat product has left people online repulsed by the item and concerned about the state of the economy. The photo, which was posted on Reddit, depicted a meat bin at a deli counter in a store in Auckland, New Zealand as 'Meat pieces, Mixed' for NZ$15 (AU$13.70) per kilo - and the contents horrified commenters. The poster captioned the photo of the unappetising selection "recession indicator?", a term used to describe situations that wouldn't happen in a working economy. Comments on the Reddit forum were scathing, with many users expressing their disgust at the selection on offer. 'What the heck is that pricing too?' asked one commenter, and another added the selection 'Looks like dogfood.' 'Povo charcuterie,' said one, and another said it should be called 'Floor Sweepings Du Jour.' Other commenters linked it to the state of the New Zealand economy with one saying 'Meat" $15/kg Named meat will cost you extra.' Another said, 'it is more of an indication that supermarkets are laughing at us thinking that someone will pay that.' One commenter, who says he is an independent butcher, said that the practice was common in the industry. 'I work in a deli in South Australia and we do it too. It's just end pieces of whatever to save on waste. Although that sausage in there is a crime." "It's mainly just the offcuts from the slicer that you can't normally sell because they don't 'look good'. Not really any different than the ugly odd-bunch vegetables you can get for cheaper. It'd just go in the bin otherwise." In a statement, Woolworths New Zealand said that they had got it wrong but said that they were attempting to cut down on waste product. 'A tray of mixed meat pieces sold at Woolworths Metro in Auckland has now been removed from our delicatessen,' they said. 'We do sometimes sell the ends of our sliced meat range in an effort to reduce food waste and divert food products from landfill. However, in this instance we did not get it right. We apologise for any confusion caused.'
NZ Herald
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
New onion promises full flavour without the tears, but at a cost
'Tearless' onions have made it to New Zealand, now being grown in Auckland and sold nationwide. Woolworths New Zealand launched its Happy Chop tearless brown onions to stores on June 16, marketing the new product as 'an onion designed for everyone who loves the flavour but not the tears'. Newstalk s Heather du Plessis-Allan tried the onions live on air, chopping one up, holding it close to her face, and even testing it on her tastebuds.
Scoop
04-06-2025
- 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.
