Five benefits of choosing the right ECEC supplier

Working in Early Childhood Education and Care is an all-encompassing profession. With so many dedicated individuals working to ensure the children in their care are safe, healthy, happy and developing strongly, it can sometimes feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. Which is why it’s vital to partner with the right businesses to help you get the job done. 

With loads of supplier solutions on the market, we know that so much choice can be overwhelming. As a trusted Australian brand, here’s how Woolworths at Work can support your ECEC service and help your staff and children thrive.

When you partner with us, you’re choosing a local Australian supplier who can help you serve your children fresher, healthier food that meets nutritional guidelines. We work with thousands of farmers across the country to source quality, fresh Australian produce. We choose home grown items wherever possible, with 96% of fruit and veg and 100% of fresh meat, eggs and milk sourced from Australian farming communities.

We also understand the pressures of meeting nutritional guidelines, which is why our range includes a variety of products that are free from artificial colours, flavours and added MSG. When you order online, our product filters allow you to select from a range of different dietary needs including high protein, high fibre, low sugar, source of iron, Health Star Rating, gluten free, organic, vegan, vegetarian and many more. 

Plus, we’re proud to offer more than 6,500 products from our Own Brand range – voted the healthiest supermarket own brand range in Australia four years in a row¹.

With many ECEC services across the country under pressure due to staffing issues, there’s no time to waste in sourcing the essentials. Partnering with Woolworths at Work can help you save you time and makes things easier for you and for your staff. Our simple online platform makes ordering fast and easy, with a range of fresh food, office supplies, kitchen essentials, cleaning and hygiene products, and much more. 

With custom shopping lists and access to past orders, ordering your staples week after week is fast and easy. Less time searching means more time for meeting the many demands of running a service. We’ve also increased the product limits on a select range of everyday essentials to prevent you from having to place multiple orders throughout the week. Now, you can order up to 99 units on selected products², including bananas, long life milk, apples and other staples. And if you need even more, we offer a free bulk ordering service via the Business Support Hub.

There’s no need to wait around all day for your order either. You can easily make last-minute changes to your order and track your delivery right to your door.

Woolworths at Work is committed to working with you to create a bright future for the children in your care. Since 2018, Woolworths has taken 9,000 tonnes of plastic out of circulation. By the end of 2023, 100% of our Own Brand packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable.

ECEC services are just some of the many customers who have kept 204,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables out of landfill by supporting The Odd Bunch product line where fruit and vegetables that would otherwise be thrown away due to their shape or size are packaged and sold.

No matter how large or small, we aim to deliver your order in sustainable packaging at no extra cost. From responsibly sourced paper bags to our waste-free Bagless to Bench³ service, we’re committed to helping our customers care for the planet just as much as we do. We also offer Green delivery windows that ensure your order is placed on an existing route in your area to reduce fuel emissions.

You can find out more about our plan to grow a cleaner, greener business here.

We’ve spent years servicing the ECEC sector, so we’ve developed a genuine understanding of how the day flows, and what’s required for it to run smoothly. That’s why we offer same day delivery on items ordered before 11am. For those last minute needs, services can have up to 50 items delivered in under two hours with Delivery Now⁴.
Free next day delivery is available for orders over $99⁵ from 5am with convenient 2 hour windows, which can make deliveries easier to manage. We even offer early Monday morning delivery windows from 5am to help you get a jump on the day. Teams can plan their deliveries so they have what they need by the time the children arrive.

Partnering with a trusted supplier can also help you tap into valuable information and insights to make the most of your budget.

Woolworths at Works’ Work Hub puts managing business’s grocery spend at your fingertips. 

In the Work Hub you can add buyers to your account, and apply for a line of credit. You also have access to a reporting dashboard that provides real-time insights into spend across the organisation. This central spend visibility allows operations managers, accounts teams and service leaders to make proactive decisions about budgets – which is especially valuable for those services who operate on more than one site. 

Being able to generate custom reports and analyse trends allows businesses to allocate budgets more effectively and identify areas for cost savings. In addition, those with a Work Account line of credit can easily access transaction-level data and download reports including spend by shoppers, location and cost centre. They can also add custom GL codes and PO numbers to invoices and statements to streamline admin even further.

To learn more about how Woolworths at Work can support your team, sign up today or get in touch here .

¹ According to The George Institute for Global Health’s FoodSwitch: State of the Food Supply report (2019, 2020 and 2021) based on mean Health Star Rating compared with Coles, Aldi and IGA.

² Order quantities of up to 99 for selected products. If you need to order in even larger quantities, we have an ordering service on hand to help.

³ Not available if you tick ‘Leave unattended’ at checkout. For food safety reasons, certain produce, chilled and frozen items will need to be packed into produce or reusable bags.

⁴ Maximum 50 items, non-refrigerated partner delivery. Subject to availability, excludes remote areas.

⁵ Orders over $99, excludes Partner Delivery. Subject to availability, excludes remote locations.