The co-owners of a new supermarket in Christchurch say shoppers have been turning out in their droves since the store opened last week.
Ethan Vickery and his father, Shane, opened Kai Co last Wednesday to give people an alternative to the Woolworths and Foodstuffs supermarket duopoly.
Ethan said he and his father were drawing on their experience and contacts as former butchers, focusing on local markets and suppliers to ensure they were stocking fresh meat and produce at competitive prices.
"I think it's something that is cheaper to be sourced locally.
"There's no benefit being a big corporate and buying in bulk when it's fresh food... and you do have that flexibility as well to get specials. The suppliers just can ring us directly and be like 'we need to clear this stuff' and you can take it," Ethan said.
"No one really took us too seriously cause there's nothing really like us that's been done before.
"When we were talking to suppliers originally, they kind of thought we were sort of like a clearance place.
"But now they've seen what we are and they've come in - they think it's a really nice store - they've all been approaching us," Ethan said.
He said the store had taken a back-to-basics approach to keep the focus on quality food at an affordable price.
Other attempts to break the duopoly had made the mistake of trying to compete against the chains at their own game, Ethan said.
"I think they've all tried to be too upmarket.
"They haven't been cheap, they haven't been solving a problem.
"The problem is the cost of living.
"All those places have been on the higher end.
"People just need good quality food at a good price.
"We're not trying to be too fancy.
"We don't have loyalty cards or anything like that it's just simple, good quality food at a good price," Ethan said.
