Auckland Weather Event

Updated: 31 January 2023

As we head into day four of the cleanup of our stores, our teams have changed gear from crisis management to project management and we’re seeing some amazing results. As of 7am this morning, New World Newmarket has re-opened for business. The $7.5 million store opened just four months ago and was inundated with floodwater on Friday night. To have it turned around and open for business in just three days is testament to the hard work and commitment of local owner operator Matt Hayward, and our teams.

We have two stores currently closed, while we recover them to be safe for our teams and customers:  

• New World Fresh Collective, Alberton Road, Mt Albert, Auckland 
• PAK’nSAVE Wairau Road, 30-60 Wairau Road, Glenfield, Auckland 

PAK’nSAVE Wairau is the largest of our stores in New Zealand, the flood damage was extensive and the sheer size of this store means getting it ready for re-opening is a huge exercise.  Led by owner operator Quintin Proctor, his incredible store team, Foodstuffs Support Centre, contractors and supplier partners are working around the clock to re-open for the local community.  We can’t yet provide a re-open date, but our goal is days, not weeks.

Aucklanders are keeping calm and shopping local.  Four Square stores across Tāmaki Makaurau have seen an increase in customers as they’re staying closer to home and thankfully, no evidence of panic buying.  We’d like to thank our customers for only buying what they need, so everyone gets their fair share when they shop.

Our supply chain remains in good shape, and we have plenty of stock in reserve thanks to the dedication and mahi of our distribution centre teams, many of whom live in flood affected areas.  We’ve largely caught up on the delays with transportation and whilst we can’t reach Four Square Coromandel due to the closure of State Highway 25, we’re exploring other options to replenish the store.

It’s still too soon to tell what impact the rain will have on our locally grown produce partners.  Our buying teams remain 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.

We work with lots of community partners and they’re all working tirelessly to support their local communities. Our emergency funding support for flood impacted communities across Tāmaki Makaurau has seen us donate over $137,000 worth of goods to date. We’ll keep working with our partners to ensure they’ve got all the support they need to deliver their services.  

Updated: 29 January 2023

It’s been a very intense 36 hours for our co-operative and partners as we’ve worked our way through the effects of this very significant weather event. We’ve now fully assessed the impact on our locally owned and operated PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square stores and are pleased to say, people are safe and all but three Foodstuffs stores are open and operating today and every suburb impacted by the floods has a shopping option nearby. 

Our thoughts are with the families of the three tragic fatalities that have occurred. 

While the wet weather continues, we’re not expecting a repeat of the record rainfall experienced on Friday. At one point we had 14 stores impacted in a severe to moderate way, so to now have only three stores not able to open, and with clear plans in place to get them open, it’s a huge testament to the mahi of our teams. It’s been awesome to see everyone pull together to make sure every community impacted has a local option to get their groceries. 

Every hour counts when you’re picking and transporting groceries - and while we had a few delays with transport, we’re in good supply and thanks to the dedication of our amazing Distribution Centre teams, we’re catching up and in pretty good shape under the circumstances.   

It’s still too soon to tell what impact the rain will have on locally grown produce partners. 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. 

We’d like to thank our customers for only buying what they need, so everyone gets their fair share when they shop while we recover. If you’re driving to store today, please go carefully. 

A huge thank you to everyone who has been in touch via social media, offering to help clean up and thanking our teams. We’ve seen your messages and appreciate the support.  

These stores are currently closed while we recover them to be safe for our teams and customers:  

• New World Fresh Collective, Alberton Road, Mt Albert, Auckland  
• New World Newmarket, 42 Nuffield Street, Newmarket, Auckland  
• PAK’nSAVE Wairau Road, 30-60 Wairau Road, Glenfield, Auckland 

Early yesterday morning we stood up our emergency funding support for flood impacted communities across Tāmaki Makaurau. To date we’ve donated over $100,000 worth of goods to our community partners so they can replenish their shelves and keep supporting their local communities. Over the coming days our teams will keep working with our community partners to ensure they’re well supported. A big shout out to our foodbank partners for all you’re doing, we love working with you.   

28 January 2023

The heavy rain across the Auckland region has impacted a number of our New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square stores. While we’re currently assessing the impact, which ranges from small roof leaks to complete flooding, our immediate priority has been ensuring the safety of our teams and our stores. Fortunately, we’re not aware of any harm to people in our network, but our thoughts are with all the Aucklanders who have damaged homes, and we hope everyone remains as safe as possible. Our team is engaging with our Foodbank partners to assess their needs so that we can provide support.  

Thankfully all our teams and customers are OK, we have a robust supply chain, plenty of stock in reserve and our Auckland distribution centres are all operating. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation and keeping everyone updated.  

The following stores will not be open today: 

New World Fresh Collective, Alberton Road, Mt Albert, Auckland  

New World Newmarket, 42 Nuffield Street, Newmarket, Auckland  

PAK’nSAVE Wairau Road, 30-60 Wairau Road, Glenfield, Auckland

As this is fast-evolving and conditions can change quickly, we recommend customers check their local store’s Facebook page, or store website, before they leave home to shop, as some stores may temporarily change their opening hours. 

We’re talking to Countdown to ensure between us we can cover the key suburbs affected. 

We recognise there’s lots of Aucklanders who’ve been impacted by this weather event and that there will be an increased need for food support. All our New World and PAK’nSAVE stores have connections with local community foodbanks and we’ll be checking in with them to assess their needs. 

We encourage customers to only buy what they need, so everyone gets a fair share when they shop. If you’re driving to store today, please go carefully, and let’s give each other respect as people deal with what’s a very stressful event. 

We’d like to take the opportunity to thank all our teams and customers for their support and will continue to keep everyone updated.