{"id":600465,"date":"2026-09-14T22:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T22:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600465\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T22:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T22:12:12","slug":"foodstuffs-437m-frozen-chilled-ambient-distribution-centre-developments-why-theyre-doing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600465\/","title":{"rendered":"Foodstuffs\u2019 $437m frozen, chilled, ambient distribution centre developments: why they\u2019re doing it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, Foodstuffs North Island begins work on a new $340m fresh, chilled, frozen and ambient distribution centre at Palmerston North.<\/p>\n

That follows it spending $70m in Auckland but only on the fit-out of the building, not developing it, which Auckland Airport is paying for.<\/p>\n

Foodstuffs South Island spent $27m on a new Christchurch frozen distribution centre last year.<\/p>\n

\"PlansPlans for Foodstuffs North Island’s new frozen, ambient and chilled distribution centre in Palmerston North. Image \/ Foodstuffs North Island<\/p>\n

Foodstuffs (North Island) chief executive Chris Quin explained how global food trends are now local realities.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrocery behaviour\u201d is changing, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growth of chilled, frozen and fresh \u2013 they are already driving decisions around what food to produce,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Foodstuff'sFoodstuff’s North Island CEO Chris Quin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasingly, we are seeing clear signals of GLP-1 medications influencing consumption patterns, particularly appetite, portion sizes, and category mix,\u201d Quin said.<\/p>\n

Foodstuffs is expanding hubs where frozen and chilled food arrives from manufacturers and leaves for supermarkets.<\/p>\n

The co-operative is replacing what it regards as essential infrastructure in its food supply chain to Pak\u2019nSave, New World, Four Square and Gilmours\u2019 outlets. <\/p>\n

Christchurch, M\u0101ngere now and Palmerston North have \u2013 or are getting \u2013 new chilled and frozen distribution centres.<\/p>\n

The co-operative is developing and will own those huge new buildings. They are not being built by outside investors.<\/p>\n

\"FoodstuffsFoodstuffs South Island\u2019s new $28m automated frozen distribution centre at Hornby, opened last year. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n

Quin\u2019s June 24 speech to the Primary Industries New Zealand Summit also cited the weight loss drugs.<\/p>\n

He said the supermarket business was seeing a strong shift towards convenience and time-saving meals and people drinking less booze.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see declining alcohol consumption in certain groups, particularly younger consumers, and the rise of low-carb, sugar-free, and zero [sugar].\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KrisKris Lancaster, of Foodstuffs, in the new frozen distribution centre at Hornby last year. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n

During Covid, New Zealanders upped their purchases of frozen and chilled goods.<\/p>\n

That meant we needed to shop less and had more food security in our homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not abstract trends. We are already reconfiguring our stores to cater for these changes…the growth of chilled, frozen and fresh. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are already driving decisions around what food to produce,\u201d Quin said.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew M\u0101ngere giant: the under-construction frozen distribution centre for Foodstuffs. Photo \/ Corey Fleming <\/p>\n

\u201cOne United States retailer described what they were seeing as the \u2018half sandwich problem\u2019 \u2013 customers still buying lunch, but only eating half of it not because they were trying to cut back, but because they physically felt full sooner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the kind of subtle shift that quietly rewrites demand across the entire food system, which has been designed around ever-increasing consumption, not less.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing growing demand for protein and fibre. We\u2019re seeing greater focus on nutrition, portion sizes and feeling full.\u201d<\/p>\n

People were becoming more selective about what they eat because they were actually eating less, Quin said.<\/p>\n

The three new food hubs are:<\/p>\n

$28m frozen distribution centre<\/a> opened last year at Hornby for Foodstuffs South Island\u2019s capacity. This resulted in a 222% capacity expansion from 2800 pallets to 6240 pallets. Mainlanders\u2019 ice cream, French fries, hash browns, frozen vegetables and berries are housed here before going to their supermarkets;$70m new frozen and chilled distribution centre under construction at M\u0101ngere<\/a> for Foodstuffs North Island\u2019s mid and upper north stores. A 28,128sq m warehouse opposite grocery co-operative\u2019s newish support centre at M\u0101ngere. New frozen\/chilled distribution centre opening planned for early 2028.$340m new Palmerston North fresh, ambient, frozen and chilled distribution centre, first sod turned today, for lower North Island supermarkets. Extending and adding to existing distribution centre 703, Roberts Line, Milson.<\/p>\n

Anne Gibson<\/a> has been the Herald\u2019s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, Foodstuffs North Island begins work on a new $340m fresh, chilled, frozen and ambient distribution centre at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[295946,295945,173424,138,1550,34518,256692,40867,18287,31787,58925,25822,2514,702,1132,111,139,529,69,1240,8262,27300,4276],"class_list":["post-600465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-295946","tag-437m","tag-ambient","tag-business","tag-centre","tag-centres","tag-chilled","tag-developments","tag-distribution","tag-doing","tag-foodstuffs","tag-frozen","tag-island","tag-it","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-south","tag-spending","tag-theyre","tag-why"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600465","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=600465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}