Kai Co has only one store<\/a>, but Vickery says their support extends across Canterbury. <\/p>\n\u201c[Customers will say] \u2018we\u2019ve come from Oxford to support you\u2019 or even Ashburton or some people when they were down here for the Ed Sheeran concert were like, \u2018oh, I\u2019ve heard about you and it\u2019s it\u2019s amazing, we\u2019re from Blenheim\u2019. Like it\u2019s just unreal, the support.\u201d <\/p>\n
Prior to opening, Vickery had found that suppliers were unsure about dealing with the fledgling brand. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause this concept hasn\u2019t been done before, the supplier systems weren\u2019t really set up for it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kai Co was not a major supermarket brand like a New World or Woolworths, and it wasn\u2019t a dairy or reduced-to-clear store. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was kind of really hard to explain to them what you were, but now with all the hype and all the media coverage and videos of the store, they say, \u2018well, this is actually a really nice store. We would like to have our brand in here\u2019. They also want to be part of the journey, I think, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kai]()
Kai Co supermarket at the Redwood Supa Centre in Christchurch. Photo \/ Mike Thorpe<\/p>\n
Vickery believes suppliers have been just as hungry for competition as consumers have. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t like being pushed around by the big two supermarkets. They think that it\u2019s a great opportunity for them as well to sort of diversify their customer base. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve increased our grocery lines by 30% in the three weeks we\u2019ve been open.\u201d <\/p>\n
It has taken a huge effort to get this far. Vickery has thrown himself into the new business, working tirelessly. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s been about three 100-hour weeks back-to-back. Well, probably four actually, because of the build-up to it as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot of long, hard days sort of getting it ready. And then because we completely underestimated just how much Christchurch would turn out for us it\u2019s been even more full on since then,\u201d says Vickery from the office at 6am.<\/p>\n
![\"Ethan]()
Ethan Vickery (right) and his uncle Steve (left) at Kai Co supermarket at the Redwood Supa Centre in Christchurch. Photo \/ Mike Thorpe<\/p>\n
As we walk through the grocery aisles, his uncle and grocery manager, Steve, comments on Vickery\u2019s choice of refreshment. <\/p>\n
\u201cAn energy drink? I thought you had a day off?\u201d <\/p>\n
He\u2019s right. The day prior was Vickery\u2019s first day off in over a month of long days. Only because the day carried special meaning. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s me and my partner\u2019s one-year anniversary, so it was a good goal to sort of get to the point of taking that one off.\u201d <\/p>\n
The pair went for a relaxing massage and Vickery says the masseuse had their work cut out. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe said [I had a] very tight back, basically. And calves. I think I squealed when she got to my calves.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Ethan]()
Ethan Vickery and his father Shane ahead of opening the independent Christchurch supermarket Kai Co in the Northwood Supa Centre.<\/p>\n
It is a family affair at Kai Co. Vickery\u2019s business partner is his father, Shane. <\/p>\n
\u201cMe and my dad work really well together. My flaws are his strengths. I like to think about stuff a bit. Dad is really good at fixing stuff and he\u2019s quite good with the legal stuff. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my stepmum, who kind of hides in the background, she\u2019s also been a massive part of this as well. She does all the accounts and all that sort of thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
He believes the business partnership has had an effect on their personal relationship. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve definitely gotten stronger, like our bond, you know? I appreciate everything that he\u2019s done for me, and he appreciates all the hours that I\u2019m putting in,\u201d says Vickery junior. <\/p>\n
Those hours won\u2019t decrease until Vickery can increase staff numbers. They\u2019ve already had to hire more people. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe started with about 30 \u2013 definitely not enough at the start. I think we\u2019re up around 36 now and more coming on board every day.<\/p>\n
![\"Kai]()
Kai Co supermarket at the Redwood Supa Centre in Christchurch. Photo \/ Mike Thorpe<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one of the cool things about this as well \u2013 just how thankful people are to be given a chance in employment. We\u2019ve got some people that are later on in their life and they\u2019re very skilled and some of the hardest workers we\u2019ve got, but they were trying to get a job for months and months and months. People just weren\u2019t giving them a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The search for staff will continue if Vickery\u2019s plans to expand take hold. <\/p>\n
\u201cAshburton would be really good, or somewhere like Hornby. Suburbs on the east side of Christchurch that have been under-loved and for a while, I think could be good options as well.\u201d <\/p>\n
Vickery is also aware that it doesn\u2019t have to be Kai Co that continues the opposition to the major supermarket brands. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think why the supermarkets are sort of worried and why everyone\u2019s excited is because if two butchers from Christchurch can put their heads together and come up with this, and pull like big dollars out of the local supermarkets \u2013 then what\u2019s stopping other people from doing it all around New Zealand? I think it\u2019s just showing people that it can be done.”<\/p>\n
Mike Thorpe is a senior journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The backhanded criticism of the underwhelmed customer confirmed they are winning a price war that had felt for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[95,16424,4463,138,4487,108263,28645,6741,21436,10938,21556,68199,232,141,111,139,69,1864,12937,71299,97,6859,810,1316,6730],"class_list":["post-261774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-and","tag-boom","tag-brand","tag-business","tag-christchurch","tag-co","tag-competitive","tag-doors","tag-grocery","tag-herald","tag-independent","tag-january","tag-jobs","tag-kai","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-opened","tag-prices","tag-shakes","tag-supermarket","tag-told","tag-up","tag-when","tag-would"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}