\u201cThere are so many people struggling at the moment. It was just crazy to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Bay of Plenty Times visited the store soon after, signs were taped to fridge-freezers explaining the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to a mechanical failure, we are not able to sell these products. We would like to apologise for the inconvenience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some compartments were empty, but others still had food such as crumbed chicken lasagne toppas, schnitzel, BBQ meat patties, pork loin products and calamari rings.<\/p>\n
The store manager directed the Bay of Plenty Times\u2019 inquiries to Woolworths NZ\u2019s head office.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson responded on Friday morning, saying the mechanical failure was still being investigated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the store manager arrived to open the store, he found a fault with the refrigeration unit\/freezers. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt this stage it is unclear how long they had not been working.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woolworths declined to reveal how much food was affected or the financial losses because this was \u201ccommercially sensitive\u201d.<\/p>\n
In response to the shopper\u2019s comments, the spokesperson said safety was \u201cabsolutely\u201d a top priority for Woolworths and in this case, the food could not be salvaged or donated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe requirements of the MPI [Ministry of Primary Industries] Template Food Control Plan that we adhere to dictate that chilled products that have been above 5 degrees for more than four hours must be disposed of.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said food rescue was \u201cextremely important\u201d to Woolworths, which partnered in Tauranga with Good Neighbour<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to see safe, edible surplus food go to people, not landfill, and all our stores have at least one food rescue partner.\u201d <\/p>\n Nationwide, 30 food rescue partners would receive more than $1 million in food rescue grants from Woolworths this financial year.<\/p>\n Good Neighbour Tauranga was allocated $32,000 in the most recent round of grants.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our 2025 financial year, we donated over 4000 tonnes of food across New Zealand, equivalent to more than 8 million meals worth over $18 million.\u201d<\/p>\n