By Jessica Hopkins of RNZ
The owner of a cheese company whose discarded product was stolen from a Waikato landfill and resold is worried the situation will damage its reputation.
Police are investigating after previously dumped Over The Moon-branded cheese had reportedly been resold by two people in Putāruru at a local market and on Facebook Marketplace.
Over The Moon reported the issue to New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS).
Owner Sue Arthur says she was horrified to learn that their discarded product was being resold.
"It was actually being sold out of a supermarket shopping trolley on the footpath by people who are not authorised to sell it.
"We're a small business in rural New Zealand. It's been tough trading this year. It's just so disappointing and upsetting that all our hard work is being undermined by such illegal activity.
"The staff are absolutely devastated. I do worry it's going to affect sales."
"The rest of our cheese is absolutely fantastic quality.
"The product in question didn't look credible. We want to assure people that if they buy our products through their usual trusted retailers, they have no reason to be concerned whatsoever."
NZFS warned people to not eat affected cheese if found and to call 0800 00 83 33. It is not currently aware of any related illness.
Affected cheeses
The affected cheeses have the batch numbers 18.11.25, 25.11.25 and 26.11.25. They include:
• Camembert
• OMG
• Black Truffle Brie
• Galactic Gold
• Halloumi
• Gee's Spread (Black Truffle & Garlic Chilli flavours)
• Smoked Chilli Camembert
• Goat Camembert
• Double Delight
'Heartbreaking for them' - Food Safety
Food Safety deputy director-general Vince Arbuckle said he had not seen anything like this happen before.
"This is very unusual. We have around 80 consumer recalls a year, where there is a product that needs to be securely disposed of. But it's a very rare event that somehow, someone intervenes and secures it and tries to resell it."
"In this case, Over the Moon Cheese did all the right things as far as we can see. They did a secure and appropriate disposal.
"This is a company that's worked hard to build a brand. They're an excellent company. It's heartbreaking for them to see somebody misusing their products, so we really feel for that company."
He did not know who owned the landfill and said police were investigating how the cheese was able to be taken.
"We will work with the appropriate authorities to see what can be done to stop this, and if there are any lessons learned that can be shared with other food businesses."
He said Food Safety would be cracking down on illegal food sales, particularly on social media, in 2026.
"What we are seeing anecdotally is an increase in people preparing food from perhaps their home, and then selling that food on Facebook Marketplace or through local communities when they ought to be registered and therefore a part of a safety control system. We get information from councils suggesting that's an increasing issue.
"The costs of registering and verification aren't exorbitant and 99 percent of food businesses that consumers interact with are in the system.
"We're still talking about a very small percentage, but it does expose consumers to risk if someone is outside the system, and we will want to focus on that more next year."
