YOUR INDUSTRY
SUPER GROWTH FOR SUPIE Glenys Christian
Fruit and vegetables being packed at Supie’s warehouse – Nick, Sarah Balle and Cahan
Online supermarket, Supie, has gone from strength to strength in the nine months since it was launched, and has even bigger plans for the future. Sarah Balle, who founded the company, grew up on a Pukekohe vegetable growing property and saw for herself the amount of wastage caused by the long supply chain between supplier and end customer. Not only does the produce of many fruit and vegetable growers not meet supermarket standards, even if it did, they achieve small margins. Sarah is also very aware of the carbon emissions from dumping food in landfill when a growing number of New Zealand children are living in food poverty. It’s estimated that seven million kilograms of fruit and vegetables is wasted every year in this country at a cost of $1 billion. So Supie was launched in June last year with 1000 members in the Auckland area, offering a 48-hour delivery window from its south Auckland warehouse in Wiri. There were just ten staff handling the 2000 products on its virtual shelves and just over 100 suppliers. Supie welcomes smaller brands and artisans not producing on a large scale, which means that its customers are able to enjoy products they might not be able to find in their local supermarket. 32 NZGROWER : APRIL 2022
As well as deals, discounts and free product samples, Supie also offers cashbacks which regular customers can use or donate. Now it’s grown to have 16,000 members, who enjoy same-day delivery which is free if their order is over $70. There are 25 team members involved, with personal shoppers handling over 5000 products which come from more than 300 producers.
We love being able to educate consumers on produce and introduce them to fruit and vegetables that they wouldn’t typically buy in a traditional supermarket Sarah, who trained as an accountant, says Supie’s produce department offers some of the freshest fruit and vegetables to be found in Auckland. “Our produce bundles make up a significant portion of our sales,“ she says. “Our customers often showcase the produce they receive on social media and to our 7000 Instagram followers. We love being able to educate consumers on produce
