A two-hour wait at the checkout didn’t stop Aucklanders from shopping at what’s been dubbed as Aotearoa’s largest Asian supermarket on Saturday.
Foodie Asian Supermarket managing director Tao Shi was at the entrance, greeting almost every customer who walked in to warn them about the long queues at checkout, but most customers didn’t seem to mind.
The grand opening was last Thursday, but a series of activities and discounts were lined up for the weekend which enticed hundreds through the doors.
The lion dance, a Chinese tradition to bring good luck, was the highlight of Saturday’s events.
The supermarket is situated in Westgate, with a floor space of about 3800 square metres and at a cost of roughly $20 million to develop.
Tao said they’re hoping to open other stores in other parts of Auckland and the South Island.
As a West Auckland local, Tao said he wanted to open a large Asian store in the area to help cut down weekly grocery runs.
“For shopping, [it’s] at least a couple hours drive just to get in and out. I need to go to at least three or four supermarkets.”
As a foodie himself, Tao jokes he’s the cook between him and his wife, and said he loves to explore different flavours and dishes.
“I would like a place [where] I can get everything at once.”
He said the Asian community is also growing out West and they want to meet that demand, and make sure people can just have a short drive to get all they need in one trip.
Re: News journalist Vivien Beduya attended Saturday’s events and asked a few shoppers their thoughts on a new Asian store of this size.
Dan Ly, 24, and Mia Nguyen, 22 (Vietnamese)
Viven: What brought you here today?
Dan: It’s just a new supermarket. We just want to find out what’s in there, and it’s good to have options when it comes to Asian groceries.
Mia: We’re wanting to make wonton soup tomorrow and then Korean hotpot tonight so obviously we would go to an Asian supermarket.
We used to go to Tai Ping and Furein Asian supermarket in the CBD but I heard that it’s a bit cheaper [here] and they get a wide range of variety. It seems fresher as well.
Vivien: What one item are you most excited to buy?
Dan: Snacks.
Mia, while picking up seaweed flavoured Turtle chips: This one is much cheaper. I think it would usually be like $5, but here it was only $3.50.
Dan: It’s quite surprising to see that it’s cheaper. I think it’s just opening so a lot of discounts going on, but we find some of the things we saw [at] another supermarket, over here is quite cheaper.
Mia: We’d always buy beef bones, chicken bones.
Dan: Really hard to find [in] a non-Asian supermarket like Woolworths.
Vivien: What’s special about an Asian supermarket for you?
Dan: We’re both Asians and obviously we’re a minority, but it’s always good and kind of proud to see the scale of the supermarket.
It’s really big, and it’s literally right next to Costco. We’re competing, sort of.
Mia: It’s proof our community is growing.
Isaac Go, 35 (Filipino)
Vivien: What brought you here today?
Isaac: To buy some stuff for the coming week. I saw an advertisement on TikTok about it.
[A supermarket] of this size, you get to buy a lot of stuff. It’s an all-in-one shop. You have everything within the store so you don’t need to go to other stores and make all of the hassle.
Vivien: What one item are you most excited to buy?
Isaac: Nissan seafood cup noodles. I can’t find it anywhere. It’s more cheap compared to other stores.
Vivien: What’s special about an Asian supermarket for you?
Issac: It’s bringing you close to your home country – all the things specifically with the food.
Priya Liang, 31 (Fijian-Indian) and Matt Liang, 32 (Chinese)
Vivien: What brought you here today?
Priya: We saw it on TikTok and through word-of-mouth.
Matt: Decided to come here to check it out and see what it’s about.
Priya: I like a lot of variety, so that’s pretty good.
Matt: [It’s got] a good atmosphere. Stuff here is a lot cheaper as well.
Priya: Today it is! Hopefully it stays that way.
Vivien: What one item are you most excited to buy?
Priya: Definitely the candy, the sweet stuff, the snacks. I’ve found stuff I wasn’t able to find elsewhere.
Matt: For me, it will be the drinks. All the different sugar drinks here and there. Every time I come to a place like that I get pretty excited because you never know, you always discover new stuff.
Vivien: What’s special about an Asian supermarket for you?
Matt: It’s just unique — the stuff you can’t get from Pak’nSave or New World. Some stuff reminds me of home as well.
Priya: The herbs and spices so if I need anything for my Indian dishes, I can grab it here. Even for Chinese dishes, Sichuan and all that.
There’s all the stuff from China and back home, we love Chinese cuisine. You find a lot of stuff here that you can take home or make it yourself.
By Vivien Beduya of Re:News
