Big Fresh was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

supermarket chain. The first Big Fresh store opened in 1988 in

Mount Wellington, Auckland Mount Wellington is a suburb in East Auckland, New Zealand, located 10 kilometres southeast of the city centre. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Stonefields, Tamaki, Panmure, Penrose, and Ellerslie, and by the Tamaki River. The suburb ...

. In 2003, the Big Fresh brand was shut-down by its owner Progressive Enterprises, with branches converted to

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

or Woolworths, or shut down altogether. The distinguishing feature of the Big Fresh was its emulation of a farmers market in a supermarket environment, with a focus on an extensive range of fresh foods; this was unique in

at the time of its opening. In addition to its market-like atmosphere, Big Fresh had a number of features that made their stores unique within

, such as a ''Popcorn Club'' for children and in-store family entertainment, such as

animatronic Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...

singing and dancing fruits and vegetables, mooing cows, singing sausages, and giant egg-laying chickens.

History

The first Big Fresh store opened in 1988 in

. The entertainment attracted customers, allowing Big Fresh to outpace Woolworths on average store turnover.Image reaches end of supermarket shelf life
Retrieved February 2013 The Big Fresh concept became popular throughout

and the chain expanded throughout the country. Through its links to

Woolworths New Zealand Woolworths New Zealand Limited (formerly Progressive Enterprises) is the second largest grocery company in New Zealand (behind Foodstuffs), with revenue of NZ$6.2 billion for the year to June 2018. Alongside Foodstuffs, Woolworths NZ forms par ...

and Dairy Farm International, who also owned the Franklins supermarket chain in Australia, the Big Fresh brand was launched in Australia under the brand ''Franklins Big Fresh''. For a brief period the Big Fresh brand in New Zealand was changed to ''Franklins at Big Fresh'', using the slogan "More in your trolley for less." In 1999, Big Fresh had six stores.Big Fresh had 6 stores by 1995, including Auckland stores and one Wellington store. In 2002, there were 11 Big Fresh stores around the North Island. In July 2003, the Big Fresh brand was shut-down, with all branches converted to

or Woolworths, or shut down altogether.

Generic products

Owing to its links with Woolworths and later Progressive Enterprises, Big Fresh stocked the ''No Frills'' and ''First Choice'' generic product brands. Both brands were dropped by Progressive Enterprises when Dairy Farm International exited the partnership in 2002.

References

{{Woolworths Supermarkets of New Zealand Defunct retail companies of New Zealand Retail companies established in 1988 Retail companies disestablished in 2003 Woolworths Group (Australia)