Innovation And Local Supplier Partnership At New World Thorndon Means Customers Can Enjoy Strawberries Year-round

Tossed, sliced or blended, strawberries are a seasonal summer gem that many New Zealanders love, and but are usually limited to the warmer months, or to imported variants. Shopper expectations are rapidly changing, and customers want to be able to buy a broader range of fruit year-round.

New World Thorndon is now stocking locally grown, pesticide-free strawberries year-round, thanks to their partnership with pioneering vertical farming local company, 26 Seasons. New World Thorndon and 26 Seasons are committed to finding innovative ways to provide Kiwis with products they love, and this innovation will make a big difference to how customers shop and the range they have access to all year.

26 Seasons’ innovative vertical farming method can produce one million punnets of the freshest, sweetest, spray-free strawberries annually. Their controlled indoor environment removes external factors like weather, seasonality, pests and disease and mimics perfect strawberry growing conditions 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

The two businesses are partnering to make sure the strawberries Kiwis want to buy are available all year-round. The establishment of indoor vertical farms closer to consumers helps produce seasonal favourites out of season, with fresher products and reduced food miles compared with imported products.

New World Thorndon owner operator Reese Drake says the new locally grown premium strawberries are proving a hit with customers. “It’s fantastic to have the option to access strawberries out of season. Being able to cater to customers’ needs year-round is innovation at its finest.”

Grant Leach, 26 Seasons CEO, says in New Zealand vertically farmed food can play an important role in supplementing traditional farming practices to satisfy consumer demand for seasonal produce year-round. Rather than importing strawberries from around the world over winter, New Zealanders can now enjoy locally grown fresh fruit that is full of flavour and free from pesticides.

“Our vertically-farmed strawberries are juicy, sweet, pesticide-free and picked when ripe, smelling and tasting just as delicious in the middle of winter as they will do in the height of summer,” says Leach. “We are experimenting with tweaks to our lighting system allowing us to ‘dial up’ sweetness and colour.”

Strawberries have become a new staple for customers at New World Thorndon and they can look out for more innovatively produced products at the store soon.

New World Thorndon is locally owned and part of the Foodstuffs North Island co-operative of stores. As a 100% NZ owned co-operative, Foodstuffs North Island proudly supports NZ suppliers, with a portion of the range in each store tailored by the local owner to allow them to show off suppliers in their area.

Foodstuffs North Island is invested in exploring ways to expand their offerings to suit and benefit customer needs daily and are proud of New World Thorndon’s partnerships with innovative suppliers to provide the community with fresh and local produce.

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