{"id":345076,"date":"2026-03-24T09:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T09:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/345076\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T09:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T09:18:08","slug":"mr-whippy-waikato-street-runs-at-risk-amid-soaring-fuel-prices-supply-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/345076\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr Whippy Waikato street runs at risk amid soaring fuel prices, supply fears"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThose are the three towns that are closest to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MrMr Whippy Waikato SE (south-east) franchise holders Stu and Kris Winfer are looking at cutting street runs in some Waikato towns due to rising fuel costs and supply fears.<\/p>\n

The couple would reconsider taking on some jobs, such as events in North Waikato or Coromandel, if fuel became difficult to get, Winfer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way we\u2019re going to be able to trade if fuel becomes really, really bad is to use what\u2019s in the tank, think about where we\u2019re going and then potentially talk to local businesses we already deal with about plugging into the electric so we\u2019re not using the generator \u2026 because [otherwise] the costs are horrendous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both vans run on diesel, which has risen<\/a> by $1.38 on average in the past month to reach $3.19 a litre, according to fuel watchdog Gaspy.<\/p>\n

Generators to run the ice cream service were fuelled by petrol, which is up between 85c and 91c in the last month to sit between $3.34 and $3.67 a litre, depending on its grade.<\/p>\n

At some stations, the price of petrol nudged past $4 over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"RisingRising fuel prices are stretching budgets at home and in business. Photo \/ Corey Fleming<\/p>\n

The couple took on the franchise about four years ago, when Covid-19 restrictions were still in place, Winfer said.<\/p>\n

But the fuel situation was more challenging.<\/p>\n

\u201cCovid was quite manageable because being a mobile trader, I think it was in Level 3, we were allowed to trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut having no fuel will cause us a bigger impact. Without fuel, we can\u2019t move.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t heard of other Mr Whippy franchise holders cutting back on street runs, but expected they\u2019d also be wrestling with what to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve probably just been a bit more proactive [and] straight up with our thoughts. I\u2019m very sure the others will be having the same conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FuelFuel prices are up, but their ice-cream prices won’t be, Mr Whippy Waikato SE franchisee Stu Winfer says. <\/p>\n

But while the cost of fuel was hitting their bottom line<\/a>, ice cream prices wouldn\u2019t be going up, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll try to absorb it. It\u2019s not everybody else\u2019s fault that we have to pay more for fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winfer went public about the challenges facing the couple in a post to the franchise\u2019s Facebook page yesterday, noting street runs may be cut in \u201cthe coming weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may just have to come to you\u201d, wrote one fan, while others reacted with supportive emojis.<\/p>\n

\"StuStu and Kris Winfer have had the Mr Whippy Waikato South-East franchise for the past four years. <\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t surprised by the response, Winfer said.<\/p>\n

The 62-year-old Mr Whippy brand was strong, and had a following \u201cthat we didn\u2019t understand until we bought the business\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite heartwarming really, that people do follow and support us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThose are the three towns that are closest to us.\u201d Mr Whippy Waikato SE (south-east) franchise holders Stu…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[534,1975,138,8608,124,25283,183938,22397,28164,71,25822,2678,183940,194,16564,70253,111,139,69,6379,21411,12937,801,7192,15556,42370,544,2249,5424,19862,183939,8238,1524,183937],"class_list":["post-345076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-amid","tag-at","tag-business","tag-comes","tag-could","tag-disappear","tag-dulcet","tag-favourite","tag-fears","tag-from","tag-frozen","tag-fuel","tag-greensleeves","tag-kiwi","tag-mr","tag-neighbourhoods","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ongoing","tag-pressure","tag-prices","tag-rising","tag-risk","tag-runs","tag-soaring","tag-some","tag-soon","tag-street","tag-supply","tag-tones","tag-under","tag-waikato","tag-whippy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345076","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=345076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}