Check out our winners for 2023 below

The results are in! Following a thrilling final at Foodstuffs North Island’s Support Centre the two category winners for the inaugural Foodstuffs Emerge Emerging Supplier Competition were announced:

Start-up Supplier winner - Solid – sustainable plastic free toothpaste in a jar.

Small Supplier winner - Herbivore – premium plant-based butter made from natural coconut.

The winners will now work alongside Foodstuffs and industry mentors and embark on a journey that will take them from small beginnings to New World shelves across Aotearoa.

Adam McConnochie from Solid says he’s grateful to have customers that have supported them on its journey so far and believe in the kaupapa of Solid.

“We believe we can do things differently and more sustainably, so it’s cool Foodstuffs is prepared to back us. The bigger we are, the greater impact we can make, it’s about showing what’s possible and how sustainability can go hand in hand with innovation and business growth.”

Craig Brown from Herbivore says at Herbivore we believe in a world where butter grows on trees.

“We’re so grateful for Foodstuffs running such a special event to celebrate emerging businesses. We’re pushing forward into traditional categories and to have Foodstuffs support us shows their true commitment to sustainability and innovation.

“We think Herbivore is the best butter on the planet for the planet.”

Mary Devine Foodstuffs South Island CEO and Emerge judge, says both winners impressed the judges with the exciting way they had used innovation and sustainability to create new opportunities.

“While we could only pick two winners, all our finalists are now part of the inaugural Foodstuffs Emerge alumni. Just by making it to the finals, everyone is a winner, and our hope is that for all our finalists this is just the start of their relationship with us.”

“We’ve always known New Zealand is a hotbed for FMCG creativity, and what we’ve seen tonight proves this.”

The two winners have a busy road ahead, as they begin to scale up their operations and product. They will soon be meeting with Foodstuffs category managers to begin sharpening up their strategies and ensuring their products launch with a resounding bang.

Foodstuffs Emerge - Emerging Supplier Competition is all about ‘eureka’ moments – the joy from learning about a new product that we know our customers will need and love. Congratulations to our 10 finalists – who now have a few weeks to refine their pitches, before the grand final and the opportunity to win a life changing prize and journey that will take them from small beginnings to every New World across Aotearoa.

The diverse range of 10 finalists include easy to use quick, healthy and delicious meal solutions, sustainable vegan and oral care products, umami functional foods, and even a nutritious gravy for our four-legged friends (dogs).

The finalists now will have a few weeks to refine their pitches, before the grand final on Friday 13th October. The event will give each of the companies the opportunity to share their products and give an insight into the passion and drive that has brought them this far. The live panel event will be in front of some esteemed industry judges, including Foodstuffs North Island CE, Chris Quin and Foodstuffs South Island CE, Mary Devine.

Foodstuffs North Island & Foodstuffs South Island are excited to announce the launch of Foodstuffs Emerging Supplier Competition, sure to become New Zealand’s leading competition for the country’s most creative and passionate FMCG trailblazers.

Foodstuffs Emerge is a fantastic opportunity for grocery entrepreneurs to gain access to industry leaders and Foodstuffs mentors to take their new products on a fast-tracked journey from small beginnings to New World shelves across Aotearoa.

The successor to the brilliant FoodStarter competition, Foodstuffs Emerge, has evolved to encompass all FMCG creators - not just food and beverage innovators. If you can buy it in a supermarket, you can enter in Foodstuffs Emerge.

Foodstuffs Emerge is led by Foodstuffs and supported by New World. This unique nationwide platform plays a key role in both co-operatives commitment to be Here for NZ through support for their supplier communities and in turn, helping local communities to thrive.

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Entry Criteria

We are looking for:

• Sustainable aspects to your product/business
• Potential to disrupt within their category
• It can be any grocery category (excl alcohol, cigarettes & vaping products)
• New Zealand made & based
• Either not selling to any supermarkets or you might be registered vendor for either North or South Island
• Early stages of trading or already selling to a limited number of stores within a couple of regional areas
• Capacity and resource to scale up to get into New World Stores or to be able to expand on the current number of New World stores

Make sure to check out the template for the entry form here

What’s the prize?

• Foodstuffs will partner with the winner to develop a strategy based on current position/scalability
  and ability to supply to New World Stores
• PR Time & Resource with paid media support 
• Precision Media campaign solutions and in-store activation tailored to your product’s range allocation
• Food Innovation Network Scale Up Support*
• DDB 2hr strategy workshop and mini starter toolkit (based on design exploration)
• dunnhumby Emerging Supplier Snapshot
• 2 hrs consulting on sustainable packaging

* The prize is in-kind support from either FoodBowl in Auckland or FoodSouth in Christchurch (part of New Zealand Food Innovation Network). The services we can offer include advice, recipe development and prototyping at our food safe pilot plant. We may also be able to do small scale production (depends on the product)

Key Dates

• 19th June 2023: Entries open.
• 30th July 2023: Entries close.
• Early August 2023: Semi-finalists to be announced. All semi-finalists to prepare a longer application.
• End August 2023: Long applications close.
• Early September 2023: Finalists announced.
• Final Event 13th October: pitch night and winners announced.
• Following the event: Winners start working with Foodstuffs and partners.
  * these dates are subject to change if required due to the Covid-19 pandemic