After rounds of pitching, two food-based start-ups win Foodstuffs annual Emerging Supplier competition to get a direct route to be stocked in supermarket shelves.

Fuller Faster Oats, which create quick and easy overnight oats and The Lucky Taco, which makes a range of authentic Mexican salsas and marinades, are the winners of Foodstuffs Emerging Supplier competition.

The start-ups competed against 10 other innovators, who pitched in front of a judging panel of industry leaders.

Each competitor had the opportunity to share details of their product as well as the passion and drive that has brought them this far.

Both Fullers and The Lucky Taco came out on top and will receive a prize worth $70,000 that includes tailored in-store activations, supply chain guidance, strategic workshops, sustainability consultations to scale up their business and range of products in New World stores across New Zealand. 

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“New Zealand’s supplier community is full of brilliant, forward-thinkers who often don’t have the support or the funding to fully realise their ideas,” says Chris Quin, Foodstuffs North Island Chief Executive.

“Emerge is about giving them a platform to pitch their biggest, boldest ideas, which can be properly developed and brought to our customers.” 

Quin adds that as New Zealand is the hotbed for FMCG creativity, the competition was tough.

For the start-ups, Fullers and The Lucky Taco’s are now on their way to begin scaling up operations and products as they set their sights in launching on supermarket shelves.

They will both also begin meeting with Foodstuffs category managers to begin sharpening up their strategies to launch their products on New World shelves.