Foodstuffs South Island supports berry good business

Creating and supporting successful communities on the mainland is at the heart of what Foodstuffs South Island is all about. Supporting local suppliers and having meaningful partnerships where we innovate together are a big part of our recipe for success.

Foodstuffs South Island is delighted to be a part of Nelson-based FSL Food’s journey to introduce their latest delicious frozen innovation, Choc Bites, a frozen summer fruit treat covered in dark chocolate. The product is available at PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square stores across the South Island.

Eliana Glover is the Managing Director of FSL Foods, and a fourth-generation berry entrepreneur from Nelson Tasman. She developed Choc Bites with her food production and technology team and launched the product in supermarkets in collaboration with Foodstuffs South Island.

Her family has been sourcing and supplying frozen fruit and vegetables to Foodstuffs South Island for more than 20 years, with leading retail brands Goodness Kitchen, Fruzio and The Berry Fix.

Eliana first came across the idea of a chocolate covered frozen fruit snack at a trade event in the US at the beginning of 2022.

“I’m always travelling to food expos and trade events, looking at markets and trends, and that time I saw a trend in chocolate covered frozen fruit as a snack,” Eliana says.

“It seemed a natural fit to our frozen fruit offering, building on our existing range as a premium product.

“It’s also a great way to offer summer fruit year-round and make frozen fruit affordable and available,” she adds.

To turn her idea into a reality, a product that would be available in supermarket freezers around the country, Eliana bounced the idea off the Foodstuffs South Island category team.

The co-op is always on the lookout for innovative products and ways to support local suppliers and businesses, and Choc Bites are the perfect example of how close collaboration on sales, development and customer insights will help products like Choc Bites get into stores.

“The category team at Foodstuffs South Island and Foodstuffs North Island have been great to work with and integral to getting the product into supermarkets across the country,” Eliana says.

“I’ve really appreciated their support in making the process easy and efficient for everyone involved.”

The product was launched in Foodstuffs stores earlier this month, first in the South Island, and then the North Island, and early sales indications are positive.

The company source cherries and strawberries from Turkey due to the grading quality required for their Choc Bites. The strawberries, for example, are the Camarosa variety which are sweeter, smaller and more uniform in size compared with varieties grown in New Zealand. The blueberries are sourced from a grower in Hawke’s Bay.

“For me, chocolate covered strawberries are the epitome of a kiwi summer treat. I like to put them on platters, or have them as a snack, they’re a great treat to have on hand for any occasion,” Eliana says.

FSL has a long history in Nelson Tasman. Eliana’s great grandfather, Charlie or ‘Pop’ Warnes, planted the first raspberry crop at their Tapawera farm in Tasman during the 1930s. 

Eliana’s grandfather, Horace Warnes, carried on the family tradition in berries, and was part of the first export of berry fruit to Australia for making jam.

Her parents, Mike and Glenys Glover, evolved the family business by moving into frozen fruit and vegetables. They’ve worked closely with local and international growers to produce leading retail brands such as Fruzio, Goodness Kitchen and The Berry Fix, the majority of which are packed by the team in their Nelson factory.  

Four generations later, the one block of raspberries originally planted on their Tapawera farm, has expanded to hectares of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and boysenberries. The farm remains in the family to this day and is still a key supplier of individually quick-frozen fruit to FSL Foods.

And now Eliana has provided her own take on the family business, with the addition of Choc Bites. She’s looking forward to what the future holds and continuing to develop and expand FSL.

Sustainability is a big focus for the company, which is continuously looking at ways to improve in this area. They source Rainforest Alliance sourced chocolate for the Choc Bites range and continue to prioritise sustainable packaging – the product’s pouches are made out of 26% recycled plastic. FSL is also a part of the Soft Plastics initiative, Future Posts, where soft plastics collected in some Foodstuffs supermarkets and retail outlets around the country are turned into fence posts for farms and growers.

Choc Bites are available at New World and PAK’nSAVE stores nationwide. They’re also available at Four Square and Raeward Fresh stores in the South Island.

If you’re a creative and passionate FMCG trailblazer and interested in finding out how you can get your products on supermarket shelves, check out Emerge, our Foodstuffs emerging supplier competition. Foodstuffs Emerge is a fantastic opportunity for grocery entrepreneurs to gain access to industry leaders and Foodstuffs mentors to take their new products on a fast-tracked journey from small beginnings to New World shelves across Aotearoa.