New World Brookfield opens first NZ supermarket eatery with Taco Joint and Ha! Poke

The new eatery has been opened at Brookfield New World giving Chris McDonnell (from left) and supermarket owner Brendan Good lots of excitement. Photo / George Novak

After five years in the making, New Zealand's first supermarket eatery is up and running and it's based in Tauranga.

New World Brookfield has opened its much-anticipated eatery featuring three food outlets, and so far, customers love it, owner Brendan Good said.

"We're making history, we're breaking new ground as this hasn't ever been done before, so it's really exciting.

"It was almost a relief because we've been planning and thinking about it for so long, and so to open and then get awesome feedback from the customers is exciting."

JB Galguerra prepared the Aloha bowl with salmon from Ha! Poke. Photo / George Novak

The new face of the store includes Ha! Poke Bowls, Ha! Juices and Taco Joint powered by Mexicali Fresh food stalls to its food-to-go offering, which would complement its existing cafe.

Good said meal solutions were the future of the New World brand and he had seen significant growth in the stores ready-to-heat, ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook offerings over the past couple of years.

"This has taken it to the extreme where we'll do all the preparation for you and it's healthy and it's fresh.

"You can place your order, walk around the supermarket and pick it up on the way out."

The new eatery is redefining the time spent at supermarkets. Photo / George Novak

The real drawcard was the Ha! Poke menu that was developed by Beyonce's personal chef, Mike Shand.

Good describes the food as a Hawaiian Japanese fusion that people have to try to believe.

The eatery is managed by New World staff including Chris McDonnell who explains the new role has been a learning curve for many of the team who are being trained by chefs.

Tyler Kerlin preparing a Longboard burrito with sweet pulled pork, fresh guacamole and mango salsa. Photo / George Novak

McDonnell said the best part of the week so far had been watching people's reaction as they walked into the store.

"They literally stop, mouth open going, 'wow'. It's funny to watch as we can see it straight from the kitchen.

"People just can't even believe that we've done this."

But if you were assuming the eatery was only a lunch to dinner time option, you would be wrong as Taco Joint and Ha! Poke deliver breakfast burritos and bowls respectively.

"It will be something that builds and I think Ha! Poke really checks that box for the people that are looking for the healthy stuff that is reasonable."

McDonnell said it even had the tick of approval from his hesitant grandfather earlier this week.