Supie collapse: Workers to get final pay after ‘anonymous and substantial’ cash contribution

Supie staff who were let go on Monday without their final pay will now get paid. Photo / The Spinoff

Staff of the now-collapsed grocery retailer Supie will get their final wages after an “anonymous and substantial” cash contribution came through, administrators PwC said today.

The Herald had reported some 120 staff were let go without being paid for the last two weeks of work after Supie terminated all contracts on Monday morning as it went into voluntary administration.

The administrators of Supie Limited and related companies Workerly Limited and Bevie Limited provided an update on the workers’ pay this afternoon.

“We are pleased to announce that an anonymous and substantial cash contribution has been paid into Workerly Limited,” PwC said.

“This cash contribution was provided on the basis that the full amount is used to pay the employees of the Supie Group of Companies.”

The administrators said they expect to be able to pay a substantial portion of all outstanding gross wages and salaries for all staff.

However, outstanding holiday pay and other claims against Workerly may remain unpaid at this stage, they said.

The distribution towards outstanding wages and salaries is expected early next week.

Staff told the Herald all company assets are registered under Supie, while staff were paid by Workerly. The staff were employed by Workerly.

Customers waiting on refunds however will likely not be so lucky so fast.

The Herald reported that Supie customers waiting on orders must make creditor claims against the company.

“The company is not in a position to refund orders,” PwC’s Richard Nacey told the Herald.

He said customers are most likely to be refunded through their credit card company.

Supie had 60,000 customers at the time of its failure, according to Robbie Paul, chief executive of Icehouse Ventures - a major shareholder in Supie.

Paul said his firm and others had recently put $1m more into Supie.

Administrators are also working to return between $800,000 to $900,000 in stock to suppliers.

“My understanding is there are around 400 suppliers. I’m not in a position to clarify how much is due to each,” Nacey said.

The administrators were currently contacting suppliers who have outstanding payments and stock due, starting with suppliers of perishable products, Nacey said.

Supie founder Sarah Balle launched the company in 2021.

Balle had previously been optimistic about the company’s future, telling BusinessDesk the start-up would “absolutely” hit 100,000 members next year, and also hoped to be able to scale across the whole country “very soon”.

Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy told the Herald the supermarket industry - dominated by Woolworths and Foodstuffs - was tough to break into and any new players would need a substantial sum of money.

“Supie was a brave challenger to the entrenched duopoly. Its closure is a stark reminder of how difficult it is to tackle the barriers to genuine competition in our supermarket sector,” Duffy said.