NZ’s largest Asian supermarket opens

By Vivien Beduya

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.

Photo by Vivien Beduya

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.

Photo by Vivien Beduya

The supermarket is situated in Westgate, with a floor space of about 3,800 square metres and at a cost of roughly $20 million to develop.

Tao says they’re hoping to open other stores in other parts of Auckland and the South Island.

Photo by Vivien Beduya

Managing Director Tao Shi (right) and his wife Jessica Chen (left). (Photo by Vivien Beduya)

As a West Auckland local, Tao says 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 says he loves to explore different flavours and dishes.

“I would like a place [where] I can get everything at once.”

He says 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.

Photo by Vivien Beduya

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)

Photo by Vivien Beduya

Vivien: 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.

Photo by Vivien Beduya

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)

Photo by Vivien Beduya

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.

Photo by Vivien Beduya

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)

Photo by Vivien Beduya

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.

Photo by Vivien Beduya

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.