South Auckland’s first social supermarket opens in Māngere

Tatou social supermarket grand opening.

South Auckland residents will see the doors open at the first social supermarket in the area, which was opened with the help of Foodstuffs North Island and Māngere Budgeting Services Trust.

The store is called Tatou, translating to “everyone” in te reo Māori, Samoan and Tokelauan.

Social supermarkets are small shops designed to provide grocery items at low or sometimes no cost for families struggling with the cost of living. Tatou will be using a points system and the store will be a standard supermarket environment, so customers can shop with dignity.

Speeches at the official opening on Wednesday.

Foodstuffs North Island is a Kiwi-owned cooperative with supermarkets including New World, Pak’nSave, Four Square and Gilmours.

In the 2023 financial years, Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island made $51.8 million profits, according to Stuff.

Foodstuffs North Island social supermarkets head Willa Hand told Te Ao Māori News Tatou would help the community through the cost of living crisis.

“I think the cost of living isn’t just about food, so we know petrol has gone up, rents gone up, insurance, power.

“Everything a family needs to fulfil their home to be safe, warm and dry. It all costs more at the moment.

“They [families] take care of those necessities first and it’s their food budget that gets crunched at the end.”

Willa Hand, head of social supermarkets for Foodstuffs North Island.

Tatou will be Foodstuffs’ 11th social supermarket in the North Island, with its first in Wellington in March 2021.

“We’re in this for the long haul. We set these up to be long-standing relationships with community partners,” Hand said.

The social supermarkets are funded by Foodstuffs’ supermarkets. Māngere’s new social supermarket will be supported by Pak’nSave Māngere.

“Michael Kennedy and his team help keep the shelves full, they provide retail expertise and are here if the team from Tatou have any questions.”

An example of how much you can get using the points system at Tatou Supermarket.

Tatou is next door to Māngere Budgeting Services Trust, which has helped the South Auckland community with food support, financial mentoring, counselling and housing advocacy. Last year it reported helping 7000 people to access kai.

Chief executive of Māngere Budgeting Services Trust Lara Dolan said she was excited to open the new supermarket.

“It’s going to help bring mana to people who can’t afford groceries to feed their families right now.

“By partnering with Foodstuffs North Island, we’re creating an awesome new service for our community, where people can shop with dignity in a supermarket-style environment and choose the items that meet their dietary, cultural, and personal preferences.”

Labour MP Jenny Salesa.

MP for Panmure-Ōtāhuhu Jenny Salesa was at the opening of Tatou and told Te Ao Māori news supermarkets like these are important and vital for communities like Māngere.

“There are so many families that have food insecurity and they can’t actually make ends meet.

“To be able to come and pick and choose the things you would like to cook, things according to menus and they also provide the menu!

“And the fact that they allocate for larger families. Māori and Pacific families as you know are larger.”

She was pleased to see the supermarket was making healthier items cheaper than unhealthier items like sweets.

“So actually encouraging healthier food is a great thing,” she said.

How does it work?

All people need to do is go to Māngere Budgeting Services Trust building at 92 Beachcroft Ave, Onehunga. They can then speak to a community partner about their situation.

They are then allocated a set amount of points they can then spend in the social supermarket, the larger the family the more points a person receives.

After that people can then proceed to spend the points given to them.