Watties product closures

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gzt

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#324274 22-Mar-2026 16:48

A number of Watties products and brands are affected by the proposal

- Frozen vegetables
- Gregg's coffee
- Just Hummus, Mediterranean, Good Taste brands

350 workers will be affected. Closure of three frozen manufacturing facilities in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin. Frozen lines in Hastings will close.

Apparently the supermarkets have been cutting nz frozen and replacing with overseas frozen. A few weeks ago I tried to buy frozen and could find only one NZ product. It was a surprise to see frozen cauliflower and spinach from Europe. I ended up buying fresh and freezing the excess. It worked well.

Closure seems like a bad idea entering an oil crisis. I won't be buying European frozens anyway but it seems most people already do?

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#3472423 22-Mar-2026 17:08

Newsroom: "To paraphrase: when the supermarkets remove your products from their chillers, or stack them in a corner behind their own Pams products, then it’s hard to maintain consumer awareness and affection for your brand"

John19612

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#3472439 22-Mar-2026 19:11

A week ago I checked the canned fruit and vegetable products at my local PnS. In every instance where there was a house brand, the Watties products were relegated away from the eye-line, typically to the bottom shelf. In the freezer, there was a single Watties potato product and very little general vegetables.

The Watties website is one of those horrible vertical scrolling sites where you have to scroll through every single one of nearly 300 products to find the one you're interested in.

It seems like a case of the supermarkets wanting to push their own foreign sourced products and Kraft Heinz not even caring enough to give an iconic New Zealand brand a proper website.

eracode

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#3472442 22-Mar-2026 19:37

gzt:

I ended up buying fresh and freezing the excess. It worked well.

OT but I’m always amazed at how long and how well many fresh veges (cauli, broccoli, carrots, capsicum, cabbage, celery - even lettuce) last just in the fridge when stored in decent containers (sistema gear).

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

HelloThere

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#3472444 22-Mar-2026 19:59

And therefore lies the problem. Once the supermarket deletes a product, it's probably not worth the supplier making the product and the supplier gets the blame. A number of products I used to buy and also deliver have been deleted due to non ranging from a store level.

gzt

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#3472445 22-Mar-2026 20:30

Greggs Instant Coffee is a surprise. I probably haven't had that for years ago, when it was a work supplied instant. I doubt it's made in NZ anymore anyway. I'll go get some for nostalgia purposes if I can find it

gzt

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#3472447 22-Mar-2026 20:42

@John19612: Gregg's spices disappearing from all of the local Foodstuff supermarkets - for customer benefit of course. This leaves only MasterFoods and Mrs Rogers ranges. Sure, no packet of Gregg's spices was ever able to be opened without tearing the lid, but once you were in everything was great. MasterFoods is overpriced and Mrs Rogers has some of the worst packaging I've ever encountered - a tiny little plastic bag, inside a tight cardboard box, with almost no empty space so that as soon as you cut it open it you spill the contents everywhere. Even the next to useless bamboo peg has been removed.

I have not bought a Greggs spice in years but I'll miss the packets anyway ; )

I seem to recall buying a Mrs Rogers pepper during covid.

My 'euro' spices come from the garden. The rest I buy from specialty stores

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#3472450 22-Mar-2026 21:05

eracode:

OT but I’m always amazed at how long and how well many fresh veges (cauli, broccoli, carrots, capsicum, cabbage, celery - even lettuce) last just in the fridge when stored in decent containers (sistema gear).

Check out MagBags. Awesome stuff.

eracode

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#3472454 22-Mar-2026 21:51

networkn:

eracode:

OT but I’m always amazed at how long and how well many fresh veges (cauli, broccoli, carrots, capsicum, cabbage, celery - even lettuce) last just in the fridge when stored in decent containers (sistema gear).

Check out MagBags. Awesome stuff.

No idea what that is - what does it do that sistema can’t?

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

cddt

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#3472462 23-Mar-2026 06:18

Unfortunately a consequence of supermarkets deciding to use their duopoly position to make more money by selling their own brands. If this continues we'll eventually find both the supermarket chains selling only their own products.

Should be broken up like Telecom was...

nitro

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#3472467 23-Mar-2026 07:39

John19612:

It seems like a case of the supermarkets wanting to push their own foreign sourced products and Kraft Heinz not even caring enough to give an iconic New Zealand brand a proper website.

as with most businesses, profit margins drive decisions.

geek3001

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#3472470 23-Mar-2026 07:44

My local Woolworths supermarkets (plural) stock a wide range of Watties frozen vege, alongside their own brands.

I will certainly miss the Watties Super Mix Veges and the Watties Kiwi Style Roast Veges as these are very convenient to have in the freezer. As far as I can see there is currently no direct equivalent of either of these in other brands.

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nitro

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#3472471 23-Mar-2026 07:46

eracode:

networkn:

Check out MagBags. Awesome stuff.

No idea what that is - what does it do that sistema can’t?

first time i heard of MagBags, but i think i'll give it a go. would be keen to know if they're worth the price they ask for - durability, ease of cleaning before reuse, etc. sistema containers, which we have loads of, do not decrease in volume as you use/consume the contents.

however, $10 buys a lot of ziploc bags, especially from the likes of Moore Wilson's. and we also reuse those, depending on what we put in them. the drawback is that my wife's fingers freeze before she can reseal them, and could never do it properly. something a MagBag might help with.

gzt

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#3472472 23-Mar-2026 07:56

geek3001: My local Woolworths supermarkets (plural) stock a wide range of Watties frozen vege, alongside their own brands. I will certainly miss the Watties Super Mix Veges and the Watties Kiwi Style Roast Veges as these are very convenient to have in the freezer. As far as I can see there is currently no direct equivalent of either of these in other brands.

For some reason I didn't think to check Woolworths. Likewise I find the mixes handy now and then. NZ frozen spinach is something else I'd like to see. Perhaps I've missed it.

geek3001

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#3472481 23-Mar-2026 09:14

gzt:
For some reason I didn't think to check Woolworths. Likewise I find the mixes handy now and then. NZ frozen spinach is something else I'd like to see. Perhaps I've missed it.

Spinach is included in the Super Mix product I buy.

I believe that most if not all of the frozen spinach products are imported already packed or packed in NZ from imported ingredients. The frozen spinach I have seen is from either Spain or Belgium.

The harsh reality I suspect, is that it is cheaper to source frozen veges from overseas than it is to grow, process and pack them here.

We could starve if the world really turns to custard and shipping to NZ from overseas slows or stops entirely.

MikeAqua

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#3472483 23-Mar-2026 09:17

gzt: Greggs Instant Coffee .... I doubt it's made in NZ anymore anyway. I'll go get some for nostalgia purposes if I can find it

It's made in Dunedin.

As a student I remember being able to smell it from campus when the wind blew that way. The factory is one block to the SE of the commerce building and just across the water of Leith and upstream from the Stadium.

Mike

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