Best-Rated Supermarkets

Compare Supermarkets in New Zealand at Canstar Blue. New World, PAK’nSAVE, FreshChoice, Four Square, Countdown and SuperValue were compared on Overall Satisfaction, Customer Service, Deals & Specials, Food Freshness, Layout & Presentation of Store, Value for Money and Variety of Products.

See our Ratings Methodology.

Most Satisfied Customers | New World

New World is the Kiwi grocery shopper’s top choice, rated No.1 for customer satisfaction.

 

How we rate supermarkets

Our review compares supermarkets on customer satisfaction, so you can discover what other Kiwis think about our compared supermarket brands before you do your grocery shopping. Think of it like asking hundreds of your closest mates which supermarket they think is best!


Canstar Blue surveyed 2324 Kiwis who had made a purchase from a supermarket in the past six months for their feedback on their experiences.

  • The outcomes reported in these ratings are measured via accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics.

Respondents rate their satisfaction with their choice of supermarket from zero to ten, where zero is extremely dissatisfied and ten is extremely satisfied. Brand satisfaction is rated by respondents on the following criteria:

  • Overall Satisfaction: measures consumer satisfaction with a supermarket as an individual score NOT a combined total of all criteria.
  • Customer Service: the supermarket’s staff are friendly and provide great service.
  • Deals & Specials: the supermarket offers a wide range of deals and specials that offer genuine discounts on standard prices.
  • Food Freshness: the perishable food on offer is fresh and of a high and consistent quality.
  • Layout & Presentation of Store: the supermarket is clean, has a pleasant atmosphere and an easy to navigate layout; its website is also easy to use and products are simple to find.
  • Value for Money: overall, the level of service and product quality on offer provides a high level of value.
  • Variety of Products: the supermarket stocks a wide range of products and brands at a range of price points.

The winning brand is the one that receives the highest Overall Satisfaction rating once all the scores from the Overall Satisfaction criteria are combined and averaged.

  • Overall Satisfaction is asked as a specific question and represents an individual measure, not a combined total of all criteria.
  • When we cannot determine a clear winner from the criteria for the Overall Satisfaction rating, we will then look at the other criteria measured in the rating.
    • The brand with the highest number of five-star ratings within the supporting criteria will become the five-star recipient in overall satisfaction, and thus win the award. If a clear leader still cannot be determined from the supporting criteria, joint winners will be declared.

Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included, so not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The brands rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.

  • New World
  • PAK’nSAVE
  • FreshChoice
  • Four Square
  • Countdown
  • SuperValue


Find more information on our Most Satisfied Customer methodology.

New World

Ratings Results

The winner of Canstar Blue’s 2023 award for Most Satisfied Customers | Supermarkets, New World is the only supermarket brand to achieve a top 5-Star rating from Kiwi consumers for Overall Satisfaction.

Across all seven categories in our award ratings, New World achieves top scores in over half, earning additional 5-Star ratings for Store Layout, Food Freshness and Variety of Products. In total, New World earns more 5-Star ratings than all other supermarkets in our awards survey combined.

Editor’s Notes

The New World supermarket brand is owned by the Foodstuffs co-operative, which also owns PAK’nSAVE, Four Square and the Pam’s food brand. However, each store is a franchise, and is independently owned and operated.

There are currently 140 New World supermarkets spread across New Zealand. As evinced by the supermarket chain’s 5-Star rating for Food Freshness, New World stores are known for their great range of bakery products, fresh meats and fish and focus on fine delicatessen foods.

This is the fourth time that New World has won Canstar Blue’s Most Satisfied Customers | Supermarkets award in the seven years that the award has been running.


PAK’nSAVE

Ratings Results

Awarded an admirable 4-Star rating for Overall Satisfaction in this year’s award ratings, PAK’nSAVE is the only supermarket chain to earn a top 5-Star rating for Value for Money.

Across the other award categories, it earns a further three 4-Star ratings and two 3-Star ratings, for Customer Service and Layout & Presentation of Store. However, given the supermarket’s focus on self-service and its warehouse-like stores these ratings are unsurprising.

Editor’s Notes

PAK’nSAVE is another foodstuffs franchise. Its big yellow supermarkets are unmissable in suburbs across the country, and each is individually owned, just like New World and Four Square stores.

However, unlike its sister brands, PAK’nSAVE takes a stack-’em high and sell-’em cheap approach to its product marketing. To achieve cost savings, PAK’nSAVE stores present products to consumers on large, basic displays, and customers are required to pack their own shopping at the check-outs.

However, the supermarket’s emphasis on savings doesn’t translate to substandard products, and the quality of PAK’nSAVE’s fresh fruits, fish, meats and vegetables are of a high quality.


FreshChoice

Ratings Results

Standing in third place on our supermarkets award table, FreshChoice earns a 4-Star overall satisfaction rating, and one top 5-Star rating for Customer Service. Aside from its great 4-Star rating for Food Freshness, it’s worth noting that FreshChoice earns the second-highest rating in this year’s awards for Value for Money, placing just behind PAK’nSAVE.

Editor’s Notes

The FreshChoice brand is owned by Woolworths Group, one of Australia’s largest companies. In NZ, FreshChoice supermarkets feature in 36 communities across the country – 15 in the North Island and 21 in the South Island – and all are locally owned and operated.

FreshChoice’s focus on local means that its stores work directly with regional farmers and growers and, as a consequence, product ranges across stores differ to suit immediate local communities’ interests.


Four Square

Ratings Results

In this year’s award ratings, Four Square, the iconic Kiwi supermarket brand, earns an admirable 4-Star Overall Satisfaction rating from its customers. Across all categories, Four Square earns a mix of 4- and 3-Star ratings. As most of Four Square’s stores are smaller than those of its larger rivals, it’s perhaps understandable the supermarket chain earns its lowest ratings for the variety of its products and deals and its perceived value for money.

Editor’s Notes

Four Square has been part of the New Zealand grocery landscape for close to a century. Founded in the 1920s as a collective with the aim of delivering the best prices to Kiwi consumers, Four Square is now part of Foodstuffs, the country’s largest grocery retailer.

Nationwide, the Four Square chain comprises more than 230 locally owned and operated businesses. The stores range from small corner dairies, to larger urban stores, each delivering the great prices and customer service Kiwis have come to expect from the iconic brand.


Countdown

Ratings Results

One of New Zealand’s largest supermarket brands, Countdown earns its best ratings, 4 Stars, for the layout of its stores, and the range and freshness of its produce.

Across all other categories, Countdown earns 3 Stars, which while not a top rating still indicates that Countdown’s customers are content with the service and value the supermarket chain delivers.

Editor’s Notes

Countdown is owned by the Australian supermarket company Woolworths Group, and many of the store’s own-brand products are the same as those sold across the ditch in Aussie Woolworths supermarkets. However, unlike the group’s other supermarket brands in NZ, Countdown stores are not franchises and are controlled from Countdown’s head office in Auckland.

Countdown’s One Card membership program offers regular discounts and deals, as well as fuel discounts thanks to its partnership with the AA. Additionally, some Countdown locations have in-store chemists, which offer a full pharmacy service at a great price.


SuperValue

Ratings Results

SuperValue rounds out our awards ratings, and earns 3-Star ratings in every category rated, except one: the supermarket chain earns its top rating, 5 Stars, for Customer Service.

Editor’s Notes

SuperValue stores have been part of the Kiwi retail landscape since the 1960s. Now owned and operated as individual franchises by the Australian Woolworth’s Group, there are 35 SuperValue stores around New Zealand: 25 stores in the North Island and ten in the South Island. Because they are locally operated, SuperValue stores are able to change the range of products they stock to reflect the shopping habits of individual communities.

Other supermarket brands

Not all supermarket brands in the market qualify for our ratings (based on minimum survey sample size), but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth considering. Here is another supermarket to check out before making your final decision.

  • Farro Fresh

Farro Fresh

Editor’s Notes

Originally founded in 2006, Farro was created with the goal to provide Kiwi’s with fresh, high-quality food, while supporting local producers. In addition to everyday groceries, Farro also provides ready-made meals and personalised gift hampers. This supermarket may be the right choice for the environmentally-conscious shopper, as Farro works alongside organisations to redistribute, repurpose and recycle food. The brand’s six stores are spread throughout Auckland, however, nation-wide delivery is available via their website.

 

Choosing the Right Supermarket for You

What do you look for in a supermarket? It’s likely the same qualities as the Kiwi consumers in our awards survey. Around half of respondents cite either Value for Money or Deals & Specials as the biggest driver of their supermarket satisfaction.

Due to the spike in the cost of living, all households are facing higher prices at the checkout. Indeed, 63% of shoppers in our survey say they now always choose money-saving options, and nearly the same number (62%) claim that they are cutting back on non-essential food items due to the rising cost of staples.

However, as in most of our consumer research, great levels of Customer Service are also an important factor when judging the retail experience.

Here’s the full rundown of what the consumers in our survey rate as the most important factors when it comes to their Overall Satisfaction levels with their supermarket choices:

  • Value for Money: 28%
  • Deals & Specials: 19%
  • Customer Service: 17%
  • Layout & Presentation of Store: 14%
  • Food Freshness: 12%
  • Variety of Products: 10%

About the editor of this page

This report was written by Canstar’s Editor, Bruce Pitchers. Bruce has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in the UK and Australasia, including ACP, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. Prior to Canstar, he worked as a freelancer, including for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority, and for real estate companies on both sides of the Tasman.

More Information

Key statistics

Always choose money-saving options: 63%

Cutting back on non-essential food items due to rising cost of staples: 62%

Happy with choice of supermarkets in neighbourhood: 53%

Increasingly shop online: 19%

Environmental issues guide supermarket choices: 13%

Average weekly spend:

Under $100: 17%

$100-$199: 44%

$200-$299: 25%

$300-$399: 9%

$400-$499: 2%

$500 or more: 1%

Canstar Blue surveyed 2529 New Zealand consumers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from customers who had made a purchase from a supermarket in the past six months. In this case, 2324 New Zealanders. Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.

The past winners from Canstar Blue’s Electronics Retailers ratings:

  • 2022: Four Square
  • 2021: PAK’nSAVE
  • 2020: PAK’nSAVE
  • 2019: New World
  • 2018: New World
  • 2017: New World

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