This story was originally published on Thursday, April 11, 2024, and is republished today today as part of Te Ao Māori News' Ngā Hiranga o te tau 2024 series, highlighting an article from each month that caught your attention.
South Auckland residents will see the doors open at the first social supermarket in the area today, which was opened with the help of Foodstuffs North Island and Māngere Budgeting Services Trust.
The store is called Tātou, translating to “everyone” in te reo Māori, Samoan and Tokelauan.
Social supermarkets are small shops designed to provide grocery items at low or sometimes no cost for families struggling with the cost of living. Tātou will be using a points system and the store will be a standard supermarket environment, so customers can shop with dignity.
Foodstuffs North Island is a Kiwi-owned cooperative with supermarket brands including New World, Pak’nSave, Four Square and Gilmours.
In the 2023 financial years, Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island made $51.8 million in profit, according to Stuff.
Foodstuffs North Island social supermarkets head Willa Hand told Te Ao Māori News Tātou would help the community through the cost-of-living crisis.
“I think the cost of living isn’t just about food, so we know petrol has gone up, rents gone up, insurance, power.
“Everything a family needs for their home to be safe, warm and dry. It all costs more at the moment.
“They [families] take care of those necessities first and it’s their food budget that gets crunched at the end.”
Tātou will be Foodstuffs’ 11th social supermarket in the North Island, with its first opened in Wellington in March 2021.
“We’re in this for the long haul. We set these up to be long-standing relationships with community partners,” she said.
The social supermarkets are funded by Foodstuffs’ supermarkets. Māngere’s new social supermarket will be supported by Pak’nSave Māngere.
“Michael Kennedy and his team help keep the shelves full, they provide retail expertise and are here if the team from Tātou have any questions.”
Tātou is next door to Māngere Budgeting Services Trust, which has helped the South Auckland community with food support, financial mentoring, counselling and housing advocacy. Last year it reported helping 7,000 people to access kai.
Māngere Budgeting Services chief executive Trust Lara Dolan said in a statement she was excited to open the new supermarket.
“It’s going to help bring mana to people who can’t afford groceries to feed their families right now.
“By partnering with Foodstuffs North Island, we’re creating an awesome new service for our community, where people can shop with dignity in a supermarket-style environment and choose the items that meet their dietary, cultural, and personal preferences.”
Labour MP Jenny Salea was at the opening of Tātou and told Te Ao Māori News supermarkets like these are important and vital for communities like Māngere.
“There are so many families that have food insecurity and they can’t make ends meet.
“To be able to come and pick and choose the things you would like to cook, things according to menus and they also provide the menu!
“And the fact that they allocate for larger families, Māori and Pacific families as you know are larger.”
She was pleased to see the supermarket was making healthier items cheaper than unhealthier items like sweets.
“So actually encouraging healthier food is a great thing,” she said.
How does it work?
People who want to shop at the social supermarket should contact Māngere Budgeting Services Trust at 92 Beachcroft Avenue, Onehunga, and the team there will speak to them about their situation.
They will be allocated a set number of points based on their family size that they can then spend in the social supermarket - the larger the family, the more points a family receives.
People can contact Māngere Budgeting Services Trust via:
- Website: https://www.mbst.org.nz
- Phone: 0508 22 22 83
- Email: appointments@mbst.org.n
