Foodstuffs CEO Reveals Butchers Were Smuggled in Car Boots to Bypass COVID-19 Blockades

Chris Quin shares shocking details of butchers smuggled through COVID-19 borders to keep NZ supermarkets stocked, criticizing the "unnecessary" trade bans.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 7, 2026, 3:45 AM EDT

Source: Stuff

Smuggling Essential Workers Across Regional Lines

In a candid retrospective, Chris Quin, the chief executive of Foodstuffs—the cooperative behind New Zealand brands New World, Pak’nSave, and Four Square—revealed the desperate logistical maneuvers required during peak pandemic restrictions. Quin described instances where butchers, deemed essential for store operations, were hidden in the boots of vehicles to transit through regional police blockades. These measures were reportedly taken to ensure community supermarkets remained "full, fresh and friendly" at a time when the supply of fresh protein was at risk due to rigid border enforcement.

The Regulatory Friction of Essential Services

A significant portion of Quin's reflection focused on what he perceived as a regulatory failure regarding independent food retailers. During the lockdowns, major supermarkets were permitted to trade while local butchers and green grocers were forced to close. Quin argued that these smaller businesses could have traded "perfectly safely," and that their forced closure created "angst and pressure" within the food supply chain. This imbalance placed an immense burden on supermarket infrastructure, which was forced to absorb the entirety of the nation's grocery demand.

TRANSFORMATIVE ANALYSIS: From a strategic perspective, Quin’s revelations highlight a massive disconnect between government policy and the operational realities of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector. By restricting trade to only large-scale supermarkets, the government inadvertently created supply chain bottlenecks. The "boot smuggling" incident underscores the fragility of labor mobility in a crisis; without specific expertise like butchery, the retail giants faced an operational collapse that forced management to bypass legal blockades to satisfy basic community needs.

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