Insolvent grocery retailer Supie has been partially bought out by Kiwi company, the Meat Box.
Insolvent grocery retailer Supie has been partially bought out by Kiwi company, the Meat Box.
Supie customers can now order fresh meat and produce through the Meat Box after the Auckland-based online butcher bought Supie’s trademarks and website domains.
Kiwi-owned Kennerley Gourmet Grocery announced last week that it had bought the trademarks and domain names for the insolvent online grocery retailer, but had dropped Supie’s grocery offering.
Kennerley Gourmet Grocery chief executive Wayne Kennerley told the Herald the business initially planned to add Supie to its existing delivery-based retail portfolio but instead opted to connect Supie’s online domain to Meat Box’s website.
“The reason we did that is with our fresh meat and produce offer, we have a sustainable business model that offers consumers real value,” Kennerley said.
“That value comes from not just the price per kilo customers pay, but in the quality of our products, the freshness as most of our meat is cut to order, and range.
“We struggled to see how we could sustainably provide customers that same value across an entire supermarket offer and deliver it New Zealand-wide.”
Kennerley did not confirm how much the business paid for Supie’s trademarks, website domains and “other small intangible assets” but said, “the purchase price we paid wasn’t significant”.
Joining customer bases
PwC liquidator Stephen White emailed Supie customers last week to advise them that joint liquidators White and Richard Nacey had “sold some of the intellectual property assets of [Supie] to the Meat Box, including the website domain and trademarks”, White said in the email.
White added: “We can confirm that we have not transferred Supie’s customer database to the Meat Box, and this is the last email you will receive from the liquidators regarding Meat Box”.
Kennerley Gourmet Grocery chief executive Wayne Kennerley (right), chief operations officer Melanie Kennerley (centre) and business manager John Kennerley.
White and Nacey did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment.
Kennerley said the Auckland-based business has picked up Supie’s customer base of around 64,000.
“PwC as liquidators were able to let those on the database know of our purchase, but because of how the privacy rules work we didn’t want to risk picking up data from customers who hadn’t agreed to have their data shared,” he said.
“We’ve had a good number of those who received the PwC email check out our website and sign up.”
‘Creating a win, win, win’
When asked what sets Kennerley’s business apart from Supie, he said the “freshness” of the Meat Box products are a standout.
Kennerley said: “Supie was similar to supermarkets who estimate what they will sell, orders those products from suppliers in the hope they will then sell it through before its best-before date”.
“We obtain our orders from our customers and then cut our meat for those orders to ensure maximum freshness,” he said.
“For products like chicken, it’s incredible how much of a difference freshness can make to the taste. With fruit and vegetables our goal is similar: by buying directly from growers and sending that product out fresh our goal is to create a win, win, win.”
Kennerley Gourmet Grocery’s portfolio includes grocery and gift delivery businesses the Meat Box, Celebration Box, the Wild Rose, Paddock to Pantry and the Gift Shop.
A former supermarket staffer, Kennerley said he got into business because of his passion for retail.
Supie customers can use the Meat Box website to order fresh produce and meat.
“I’ve always loved retail and was fascinated with how to deliver a great offer to customers,” he said.
Last week, he announced Kennerley Gourmet Grocery was “always on the lookout for investment opportunities that help us grow”.
“We believe customers who shopped with Supie were online savvy and seeking an alternative to supermarkets,” he said.
“We believe our online Meat Box offer will be attractive to those who previously shopped with Supie. The Meat Box delivers restaurant quality meat at great value delivered to your door New Zealand-wide.
“We will continue to innovate and listen to our customers and expand our offer to meet their demands,” Kennerley said.
PwC’s initial administrators’ report found $267,000 was owed to the 118 employees Supie had at the time of administration, which brought total creditor claims to $4.3 million.
Supie creditors were claiming $2.03m while Workerley and Bevie had $1.31m and $57,000 in claims respectively.
Professional fees for the administration cost the company $132,210 in total, with Supie’s fees coming in at $113,176, Workerley’s fees at $12,700 and Bevie’s fees at $6345.
