Consumers buy online during pandemic lockdown

“Because our core customer base is hotels, restaurant and catering companies, business just ground to a total halt overnight,” explains Nick Archibald, owner of Foodchain. “Our delivery trucks were parked up and we had to send our staff home. It was awful.”

But just as quickly, Nick was calling his team back to work when a whole new revenue stream opened up – online orders to domestic customers.

“Normally individuals ordering online represents a very small part of our revenue, but it just took off from maybe one or two orders a week to up to 400 orders a day,” says Nick. “It was amazing really. And it meant our staff had work as we were classed as an essential service. We were back to business!”

Many of the new customers were from iwi groups across the country who were ensuring their people had what they needed while the lockdown was in place.

“They were making up food boxes and parcels for families whose wage earners had been laid off because of the lockdown which was great to hear,” says Nick. “It was heartwarming to see how people were looking after each other.”

Selling direct to home users and individuals was a totally new market for Foodchain, but one they intend to explore going forward.

“Once lockdown lifted, the online orders did slow, but the second lockdown at Alert Level 3 in Auckland saw it pick up again so there is definitely an opportunity there,” explained Nick. “We want to streamline the online ordering process and provide payment functionality via the website. We are also developing new consumer offerings such as budget boxes that will feed a family of four for $100.

“While the Covid-19 virus has brought us a lot of challenges and uncertainty, it has also revealed some new ways of doing business and opportunities to develop a new customer base. The future is looking good!”

Nick’s experience is just one example of how consumers are finding new ways to buy the products they want.

“Our business partners are telling us that customers are buying more online because they want to know where their meat and other food products come from, what’s the story behind them?” says Andrew Beijeman, CEO of Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation. “Our Awhi brand has an extremely compelling story so we are in a good position to maximise the potential this new way of grocery shopping has to offer.”

“Due to the pandemic, many of the established supply chains in the US were disrupted, triggering an increase in demand from other sources,” explains Andrew. “The desire to know where your food is coming from and the concept of food as medicine is also much more acute there than in New Zealand, which has also helped drive demand.”

“This is all good news for us as a business as it means we can hopefully see out this pandemic in pretty good shape.”