A Paeora business is donating packets of sausages to foodbanks as an act of gratitude during the national lockdown.
“We just feel very grateful that we are up and operating and we haven’t had to receive any wage subsidies,” says director Sheryn Cook who runs the business with her husband, chief sausage maker, Frank Nagel.
For every online order, they are putting one packet aside. “So far we have been able to donate four or five 20-kilogram boxes to the local foodbanks. They are just really grateful, as a lot of them can’t afford to put meat in the boxes because of the cost.”
The recipients have been local food banks in Paeroa and Matamata where they live. They are looking for more Waikato foodbanks to support.
Their online store has seen an uplift in sales of 400-500 per cent since the lockdown started in mid-March with a reduced $5 flat fee delivery, with free delivery for orders over $70.
It comes as more people want to avoid supermarkets and stay at home; and actively support local businesses, keeping locals in work.
Frank’s Sausages are sold at Foodstuffs supermarkets – PAK’nSAVE and New World - throughout the North Island as well as gourmet food stores.
They produce a range of top quality sausages, kids’ sausages and ground meats which contain free-range meat and no fillers or binders. Or as their marketing states: ‘no rubbish.’ Sausage flavours include pork with apple and cranberry, cumberland and German Thueringer bratwurst.
Their product, supported by attractive packaging and humorous marketing, has won numerous food awards. It all started in 2008 with sausage making in their home laundry – and the rest is history.
Sheryn and Frank have decided to continue putting the packs of sausages aside for the foodbanks as the country moves into Level 3.
Operating during the lockdown has not been without its challenges.
They have minimal staff at the factory at once, to comply with social distancing rules, and one worker had to self-isolate for two weeks, having recently returned from overseas.
While their Paeroa retail store is closed during the lockdown, Frank’s Sausages is doing special orders of cheaper and end of line frozen products for Matamata locals, with home deliveries on Thursdays.
“We are just trying to see what we can do to help people,” says Sheryn.