Environmental Social Governance (ESG) principles are about an organisation’s impact on the natural environment and society it operates in, as well as the way it’s governed.
The way Foodstuffs North Island delivers on ESG principles is through our HereforNZ commitment – to our communities, our people and our country. It’s our call to action and how we ensure we’re acting in a way that will support future generations to thrive.
Our HereforNZ Committee oversees the HereforNZ fund, which is supported by all North Island PAK’nSAVE, New World, Four Square and Gilmours stores, and is a way for our co-op to provide direct support for communities. In FY24, $554,384 was given out, including an end-of-year grant of $270,000 to our valued community partners, and funding for 14 food rescue organisations.
We have four social promises that keep us accountable and committed:
You can see how we progressed each of those social promises in FY24 here.
We love giving back and providing meaningful support for NZ, and Social Supermarkets let those facing food insecurity shop with dignity and to suit their needs.
FY24 saw us double the number of Social Supermarkets in the North Island by opening five locations – in Auckland, Wellington, Kaitaia, Tokoroa and Tauranga – taking the total to 10.
For more, click here
We're actively supporting the next generation of shoppers to make healthy food choices, through Food for Thought (FFT). It’s a free education programme with nutritionists delivering training to schools.
In FY24, more than 16,000 children participated nationwide – 11,186 in the North Island – getting in-class lessons and going on trips to local Foodstuffs stores.
The programme started in 2007 and more than 250,000 children have since taken part.
Learn more on the FFT website
We invest a lot of time and energy on making our stores and sites as safe as possible.
In FY24, FSNI’s Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate was 1.3 – which is the number of injuries resulting in at least one day or shift off work, per million hours worked.
That’s less than half the rate of 2.9 that we recorded in FY23.
Our local Owner Operators work in the heart of their communities. Being local, they know their communities well and are passionate about supporting areas where they see the greatest need, including through financial giving.
In FY24, our Owner-Operators gave $7 million to their local communities, including sports teams, schools and community groups. That’s up 18% on FY23.
Four Square Parakai prepares food donations
New World’s annual Family2Family campaign is at the core of the brand’s year-round commitment to be HereforNZ by supporting local communities.
New World customers can either fill a bag or choose a pre-filled $20 bag, which New World’s dedicated teams then deliver to City Missions or food banks. New World also donates $250,000 every year.
The FY24 campaign ran from April-May 2023 and saw over 15,500 bags of groceries donated by customers in the North Island, and 23,501 nationwide.
Whywaste is a sophisticated yet easy-to-use stock management tool, designed to help supermarkets reduce the amount of food that goes to waste.
Further to our March 2023 launch of a trial of the app, to mark the start of Food Waste Action Week, Whywaste was rolled out across 75 stores in the North Island.
Whywaste reduces the time that needs to be spent on date-checking and provides a daily plan for stock rotation. It’s just one way we’re aiming to reach our goal of zero food waste by 2027.
88% of New World and PAK’nSAVE stores in the North Island are now helping to feed their communities through ongoing relationships with local food banks and food rescue partners.
Stores set aside safe, edible food that we couldn't otherwise sell and give it to organisations working to redistribute it to Kiwis in need. This also helps us reduce the food waste we send to landfill.
For more info, click here
Left: Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance Auckland Hui, hosted at Waiheke Resources Trust and sponsored by Foodstuffs