Police are looking for a person described only as male and wearing distinctive red gloves, who tried to rob the dairy in Pukepoto Rd, Kaitaia, on Monday evening.
A spokesman said the intruder, who was wearing a mask, entered the dairy at 6.45pm, leapt over the counter and headed for the cash register. An employee had hit the shop's panic button and picked up a baseball bat, at which point the offender had run off.
It is hoped he will be identified from security camera images.