![Farmland Primary Logo CMYK Full Colour-1.jpg]](https://service.farmlandfoods.nz/hs-fs/hubfs/Farmland%20Primary%20Logo%20CMYK%20Full%20Colour-1.jpg?height=50&name=Farmland%20Primary%20Logo%20CMYK%20Full%20Colour-1.jpg)
When you’re new to your management role, it helps to have suppliers who’ve got your back. Farmland Foods is always there for Ella, and it helps that her rep Karen D’Costa used to be a deli manager too.
Ella says, “I've been here at PAK’nSAVE Silverdale for up to seven years. I started as a part-time night shift assistant while still at school in 2016. Once I left school, I went full-time and started working in the deli. Eventually, I became the deli supervisor and at the end of 2022, I took over as Deli Manager. So, I'm still quite new to the role.”
Demystifying SAP and keeping an eye open for fresh ideas
Ella didn’t have any management experience before becoming Deli Manager. She says, “It definitely keeps me on my toes. It has its moments where it’s most challenging thing is managing staff. But I enjoy it. My routine is different each day. It's great fun.”
“Karen, my rep from Farmland Foods has helped me out a lot because she used to be a deli manager too. We use SAP software, I'm new to the system and some of the processes can be quite difficult. But Karen’s got a lot of experience with SAP, so I can ask her anything and she can help. She even bought me a folder of her notes from when she managed the deli, which has step-by-step instructions for how to do things like listing products and changing prices.”
“Right now, we’re looking at adding more things
to our product range. So, Karen also helps me with new ideas for products. If she sees anything interesting in other stores, she takes a picture and sends it to me. It's so good having her advice and support.”
Our customers just love Farmland Foods' meats
Ella has worked with Farmland Foods for years. “When I started at the deli, we used heaps of Farmland Foods products. Then we went to a different meat supplier for a bit. But we ended up going back to Farmland because the quality just wasn't as good, and we prefer quality over low prices. Also, it was a bit of a hassle working with the other supplier, but we really liked working with Farmland and the quality of their products was so much better, so we went back to them.”
“Now we stock pretty much all the Farmland Foods range and Karen said recently that we’re one of their top selling stores. Customers particularly like their shaved champagne ham. That’s our top seller. It's the quality of the ham. It’s just so much better than any of the other brands that we stock. But people also like sliced beef and pastrami, and ham steaks are another popular one. We sometimes do small, glazed hams in our hot box, and those sell well too. Our customers just love Farmland meats, that's why we range so many products from them.”
“I love using Farmland Foods hams for our Christmas ham orders. Last Christmas Eve I cooked and glazed 25 massive legs of hams. People order them
from us in advance, and we cook a whole ham for them, glaze it, and decorate it. My favourite Farmland product is their hot pork. It's not too spicy for me, because I’m not a big fan of spicy food. It’s just really nice. I love it. So do my flat mates. They’re always saying, bring that home again. It's a goodie.”
Supporting New Zealand-owned
PAK’nSAVE are big backer of New Zealand owned businesses. Ella explains, “We always try to support local businesses before international brands. And Farmland Foods are just lovely to deal with compared to some of the other suppliers. Because some of our other suppliers are such big brands, they don't care as much. I find that Farmland takes the time to look after us, rather than just thinking of us as another customer.”
“The Farmland Foods team are so easy to work with. Amanda from their customer support team is lovely. She always reminds me if I haven't put an order in. That’s very helpful because sometimes things happen and I've had times where my orders haven’t gone through. Amanda will email me on a Friday morning, or call me up and ask, ‘Do you need anything? Just reminding you we haven't had an order.’ No other supplier does that. So, you dont find out until the next day when your order doesn’t arrive, and you realise the tech has let you down.”
“I just really rate Farmland Foods as a supplier. Their products are great, all their staff are amazing, and I'm very grateful for their support.”
