Foodstuffs supports small suppliers during COVID-19

Foodstuffs North Island Ltd and Foodstuffs South Island Ltd have announced they will be providing the option for small and medium suppliers to move to 10-day payment terms – this change is available for all invoices received from the first day of the four-week lockdown (26 March 2020) and for a further three months or until 26 June 2020.

We recognise it is tough out there for many businesses at the moment and we want to make it as easy as possible for our valued suppliers to keep trading – they are critical to our business and we want to help them by taking a bit of pressure off them financially.

By paying our small and medium suppliers faster we hope to give them more financial certainty and business surety during the challenging COVID-19 climate. The Foodstuffs co-operatives have already worked with a number of their suppliers, both small and large, to help them with cashflow since the beginning of COVID-19 and the companies commit to continue to do this as appropriate.

Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island have confirmed they will:

  • Provide a 10-working day payment cycle from the date of receipt of a valid invoice, to SME businesses that contact the company requesting these terms
  • Commit to a target of 95% of payments being paid within 10 working days of receiving a tax invoice and will make every effort to achieve this
  • Commit to providing these terms to SMEs for the 4-week lock-down period, and the three months following this as a way to assist SMEs with returning back to normal operations.

The Foodstuffs co-operatives are 100% committed to supporting local SMEs, similar to our owner-operated supermarkets they are the backbone of the New Zealand business community. Their continued success is incredibly important to nurture if New Zealand is to come out positively from the COVID-19 crisis. Doing our part to help them continue to successfully deliver to our customers and keep their valued team members employed is very much front of mind across the two co-operatives.

Offering a 10-working day payment cycle sends a strong message our SMEs are valued and helps ease some of the financial pressures some suppliers may be under.

We encourage our small and medium suppliers to reach out to their relevant Foodstuffs North and South Island contact and begin a conversation if they would like to take up this offer.

Process for applying for changed payment terms

To apply for a change in payment terms and for details of how this will work for each region please visit the following sites:

Foodstuffs North Island  - https://supplierhelp.foodstuffs.co.nz/en/article/supporting-small-businesses-during-covid-19

Foodstuffs South Island  - https://www.foodstuffs-exchange.co.nz/assets/documents/10-Day-Payment-Terms-Small-Business-FSSI.pdf