Jadan Supermarket — Local services in Puketāpapa

My favourite Asian grocery store, the only one I would visit for my weekly shop due to the store always well stock and ready for customers unlike nearby Asian grocery stores, its very clean environment, well presented groceries. Well balance offering of fresh produce, Chinese BBQ, meat section, seafood area, frozen Asian foods, Asian dry foods and snacks, toddler friendly shopping environment. Some produce cost a bit more but I normally go there to get Asian veges, mince suitable for making dumplings, huge selection of instant noodles, Chinese spicy sauces and tofu products that I can’t find in western supermarkets. The fresh youtiao/ fried Chinese breakfast donut in a large container next to the checkout is a must have, and they do sell out fast. Overall friendly and proactive staff, if there are certain types of meat product they do not have, but if they think they can help source for you, they will, we once requested 1 kg of duck’s tongue and they managed to source for us. The staff will proactively open another counter when the lines starts to get busy, great harmonious team work. By the exit/ entrance of the store conveniently has a Chinese dim sum...

I’ve been a regular customer at this supermarket since 2021 and have always appreciated the friendly and helpful staff. However, I recently had a disappointing experience when I asked if I could take a few spare cardboard boxes for moving. Most employees were kind and understanding, but when I spoke with the store manager, her response was surprisingly harsh. She said, “Not even five—you can’t take a single box home. What are the other customers going to use?”

I was shocked by her tone and attitude, especially since I was asking for large boxes that clearly aren’t in high demand for regular customers. It felt unnecessarily rude and dismissive, especially considering I’ve been a loyal shopper and always bring my own bags.

Unfortunately, this experience has changed how I feel about the store. It’s disappointing to be treated like that by someone in a leadership role. I’ve decided to do my weekly grocery shopping elsewhere...

I regularly do my shopping at Jaden and have had a decent experience so far.

However, the opening times should be amended to say '9am - earlier than 7pm' as when I came in at 6.40pm, the staff were in the process of packing all of the fresh produce away so there was a pitiful selection for me to choose from, and with the heaped trolleys full of vegetables it was near impossible to weave my trolley through the shop. No one asked if I needed anything, and I felt like I was intruding. All the tofu and noodles had also been packed away. It was inconvenient and unfortunately an utter waste of my time.

Had I known that the advertised closing time was certainly not that, and meant that the staff were hurrying to get out the door at 7pm, not that customers have a window until 7pm to do their shopping with a selection of the full produce available, I definitely would've shopped elsewhere as I will...