Celebrating 20 years of food and family
As a well-known name throughout New Zealand, there’s more to Mediterranean Foods Nelson than olives and artichokes. Though originating from the “Mediterranean Foods'' group, this locally based business has spent the last 20 years servicing the Nelson Tasman region as its own entity. From humble beginnings operating as a retail store on Halifax Street, the business has expanded its product range and service offering exponentially to become a complete supply partner for nearly 300 wholesale customers throughout the top of the South Island.
After six years operating their retail store, Peter Russell and his wife Kathie saw the opportunity to primarily service the hospitality industry, and have been doing so ever since. Twenty years later, there have been three generations of the Russell family working for the business. The majority of staff in key roles today include their children and extended family, and eventually, it’s Peter’s dream to see the grandchildren join the team. Thanks to the support of close friends, John and Gino, who planted the Medi Foods seed in the beginning, the ethos of the wholesale business is all about strong partnerships and delicious products.
The origins of Mediterranean Foods has created the opportunity to import unique products from the Mediterranean such as San Marzano tomatoes from Italy and olive oil from Greece; but as a local distributor, the offering of locally made and commodity products has grown into the thousands, enabling the business to compete with other national suppliers.
To celebrate the growth of the products now being sourced, this year the company is changing its name to Wholesale Foods. “We want our name to reflect our whole offering.” explains Peter. “Our products, our business and our story have grown beyond key Mediterranean food items, and this name change reflects our growth.” However, a new name doesn’t mean a loss of the imported delicacies. “While we have an ever increasing number of pallets of flour, oat milk and cheese in our warehouse, we’ll always have prosciutto and speciality olive oil!”
Despite the challenging times the hospitality industry has faced over the last two years, the positivity, support and unyielding drive from suppliers, customers and their own staff has meant Wholesale Foods has weathered the storm, and grown while doing so. The business has expanded its reach from Nelson Tasman to now supply the Marlborough region, and has an online-only retail arm called My Pantry, which allows people to purchase wholesale products and have them delivered to their doorstep throughout Aotearoa.
“Being a small business means that we know all our customers, and we treat them as part of our family. We pride ourselves on our service. The Nelson Tasman and Marlborough hospitality industry is a team we’re proud to be part of.”
As they say, food brings family together, which rings true for those who are lucky enough to be part of this expanding small business.
Published in Nelson Magazine, March 2022
