ABOUT

WILLIAM AITKEN & CO.

Way back in 1944, Bill Aitken realised that refugees of the war in Europe were bringing new ideas about food to New Zealand, and that the products they had traditionally cooked with, were not readily available in this country.

William Aitken & Co was set up to import and market food products from Europe, and in so doing began the popularisation a new way of cooking for Kiwis who had in the main been brought up on British fare, using olive oil from the now market-leading brand Lupi.

Over the last 70 years, William Aitken & Co has grown to become one of the largest independent food importers into New Zealand, specialising in selling and marketing overseas brands to FMCG retailers under the management and ownership of Bill’s grandson, Graham.

Today, from its premises on College Hill in Auckland, William Aitken & Co. markets and sells food products to supermarkets and food service in four categories -

• Imported European foodstuffs (in particular, Mediterranean foods), and now supplemented by imported foods from Australia, China and South America.
• Specialist New Zealand FMCG companies which are not of a size to justify
  their own marketing and sales infrastructure.
• Brands developed and owned by William Aitken & Co.
• Supermarket home brands.

William Aitken & Co. has the resources to provide ‘full service’ marketing, sales, advertising, promotional and administrative support for any food brand wishing to enter the New Zealand market, and to gain a substantive share.

These functions are backed up by an infrastructure which provides sales representation,  merchandising and demonstrating into supermarkets throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand.