Nisa has signed a short-term agreement to supply Costcutter stores, following last week’s collapse of Palmer & Harvey (P&H) into administration.

The contract starts today (Monday) and covers “selected” stores previously supplied by P&H. Nisa says that they ”will be supported with a phased approach up until the proposed Co-op and Costcutter (CSG) supply agreement in the Spring”. C-Store understands that some Costcutter stores are being supplied by the Co-op, but this is a limited number of stores in more remote areas where alternative sources of supply would be difficult to find.

Darcy Willson-Rymer, ceo of Costcutter Supermarkets Group, said: “We are rolling out an interim wholesale delivered solution for the majority of our stores. Four wholesale suppliers (Musgrave, Bestway, Nisa and the Co-op) are providing support based on their geographic delivery services. Additional cash & carry solutions are also being provided by Bestway, Musgrave and Dhamecha, and we have expanded our existing direct to store service providing a wide range of fresh, chilled and ambient products for direct to store supply. Additional wholesale delivered supply will continue to be introduced with the intention of providing a delivered service wherever possible ahead of our transition to the Co-op.

“We would like to thank all the wholesale suppliers for the support they are providing. We fully appreciate how disruptive the collapse of P&H has been for all our retailers and providing an interim supply solution is our priority.”

Nisa previously supplied Costcutter stores before the two organisations split in 2014. The company maintained that the new contract will not impair availability levels for its own members during the festive period, as is the case with a similar short-term deal to cover the smaller McColl’s outlets previously supplied by P&H. 

Arnu Misra, interim ceo of Nisa, said: “Our two companies have a successful history working together and I’m pleased that we will be supporting Costcutter at this crucial time. Combined with our agreement to provide a short-term supply contract to McColl’s, this arrangement will increase our buying power for the benefit of all of our members. We look forward to working with Costcutter over the peak trading period, and providing our traditionally high levels of service to them, as well as to the rest of our membership.”

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