Three Decades of Shopping Basket Facts

Happy Birthday PAK’nSAVE
Three Decades of Shopping Basket Facts

Supermarket shopping, love it or loathe it, is an essential part of every Kiwi’s weekly routine. From the introduction of scanners, barcodes and weekend trading, to being able to add a crisp pinot gris or ice cold Steinlager to your shopping trolley, PAK’nSAVE has packed a lot into the last thirty years. As the nation’s favourite black and yellow supermarket celebrates its 30th birthday, it takes a nostalgic look at just how different shopping was back in 1985.

· PAK’nSAVE opened its first supermarket in Kaitaia in 1985 and it quickly became the go-to grocery store of the North. It was so popular that communities in the far North got together to begin operating a monthly bus trip, specifically to travel to the store.

· Forget fancy barcodes and scanners, to keep true to its low price promise, shoppers in the first store in Kaitaia had to carry a marker pen with them around the supermarket and write down the price on each item as displayed. It also meant the checkout operator had to memorise hundreds of prices so they would know if shoppers had inadvertently written down the incorrect price!

· It is almost impossible to fathom not being able to shop on a Saturday, but back in 1985 PAK’nSAVE became Kaitaia’s first store to start trading on a Saturday. Five years later, PAK’nSAVE opened its doors for the first time on a Sunday.

· The number one selling item back in 1985 was candles – they sold like wildfire! Mainly because many homes in Northland didn’t have electricity, and those that did were known to experience power cuts.

· We all know Kiwis love lamb, but back in 1985 we also loved hogget and mutton (all still sheep just older versions). Mutton was on everyone’s shopping list and was PAK’nSAVE’s best-selling meat product.

· In the North Island alone, over the last three decades, PAK’nSAVE has sold enough New Zealand-grown apples to line the perimeter of both the North and South Island, that’s about 15,000km.

· PAK’nSAVE has more New Zealand kiwifruit growers than the number of games the All Blacks have played since 1985.

· You wouldn’t find GST on your receipt in 1985, it wasn’t introduced until 1st October 1986 as part of the economic reforms initiated by Labour Finance Minister Roger Douglas (the Rogernomics era).

· In 1985 you wouldn’t be able to buy glad-wrap or muesli bars and you would have to wait another 14 years before you could buy wine or beer in a supermarket.

· But you could fill your shopping trolley with Tangy Fruits lollies, White Magic bleach, Aulsebrook biscuits, and Zap chocolate milk, which you can’t now.

· Over the past 30 years, PAK’nSAVE has continued to deliver New Zealand’s lowest food prices, saving Kiwis eye-watering large amounts of cash.

· And last but never least, we can’t forget Stickman. He’s not quite 30 years old (in fact his age is a closely guarded secret), but he’s been the star of over 65 advertisements. When he’s not redesigning the New Zealand flag or upsetting vegetarians, he’s winning the hearts of the nation and has become one of the most famous, faceless, faces on Kiwi television.

“From humble beginnings at the top of the North Island, PAK’nSAVE introduced Kiwis to the idea of no-frills, one-stop food shopping, and now has 51 stores that span both the North & South Island. While supermarket shopping has changed dramatically over the past 30 years, what hasn’t changed is our commitment to delivering New Zealand’s lowest food prices to our customers,” says Steve Anderson, Managing Director, Foodstuffs New Zealand Ltd.

PAK’nSAVE is celebrating its 30th birthday around the country with birthday prices on selected items and plenty of other in-store celebrations and deals. Birthday celebrations continue until 23 August.

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