Christchurch’s Most Sustainable Supermarket Opens Its Doors With A Lighter Footprint On The Planet

The Garden City has added another green feather to its cap with the opening of the first supermarket designed and built to meet rigorous Green Star standards in Christchurch today.

The new, 3,450sqm Countdown Belfast is a $25 million investment by Countdown and has been designed and constructed with sustainability firmly in mind. The supermarket features plenty of planet-friendly fixtures and fittings that not only make for a state-of-the-art shopping experience, but a great working environment for the 145 members of the team.

Countdown Belfast also has an additional, 1700sqm eStore that adjoins the supermarket with a purpose-built space for online customers to pick up their orders, and a dedicated team for servicing the local area with online grocery deliveries.

Countdown’s Director of Property, Matt Grainger, says that Countdown is proud to be investing in a growing area of Christchurch and delivering a store that will leave a lighter footprint for future generations.

“Belfast is seeing some impressive growth with plenty of new residential developments in the area. We wanted to make sure we were delivering a sustainable supermarket that could not only meet that growing demand both online and in-store, but also give locals a fresh new grocery shopping option with a modern look and feel.

“Our team have worked really hard to create exactly that type of space and we’re really proud that Belfast will be the first supermarket in Christchurch that’s been designed and built to meet Green Star accreditation.

“As customers walk around the store, they’ll be able to see sustainability in action with digital shelf labels to reduce our paper use, doors on fridges to reduce energy use, bike parks to encourage more environmentally friendly travel and we’ll soon be installing EV chargers too. Behind the scenes, we’ve also worked really hard to reduce the environmental impact of our construction by focusing on reducing construction waste to landfill and carefully selecting the types of materials, like timber, that we’ve used” Matt Grainger says.

Local MP for Waimakariri, Matt Doocey says that Countdown Belfast is a fantastic new addition to the local area.

“I’m really pleased that Countdown has chosen to invest in our community with a new store, and for it to be Christchurch’s first ever Green Star rated supermarket is just outstanding. It’s a great space to shop in, and it’s even better that it’s been built to look after our environment and people for years to come.”

Belfast is Countdown’s third Green Star supermarket. Countdown is working to achieve a 4 Green Star design and as-built rating for all of its new property developments, and a 5 Green Star minimum standard by 2025. For more information on Countdown’s 2025 Sustainability Strategy, Kia pai ake te āpōpō, visit: https://www.countdown.co.nz/media/1659431/countdown-nz-sustainability-2025-plan.pdf

Countdown Belfast is located at 755 Main North Road, Belfast, Christchurch and is open 7am - 10pm, seven days a week.

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