A radical new supermarket idea is coming to the South Island.

Foodstuffs are opening Pam's Pantry in Amberley in Canterbury.

The store will only stock 2500 products, most of which are Pams or Value Labels products.

Foodstuffs South Island general manager of retail Tim Donaldson told Heather du Plessis-Allan that they have been thinking about this sort of layout for a long time, and this has been the perfect opportunity.

"A normal supermarket will normally have around 1200 to 1800 products, so it's quite a limited range," Donaldson says, but it will be still have a range of Pams products. 

He says that it will essentially just be the two brands, but they will look at filling the gaps with other supply partners in they need to. 

Donaldson says that Pams has existed for a long time now, and is certain that it has the brand awareness to support a store.

The Amberley store will be a pilot, with the possibility for more later on. 

"When it is successful, we will be looking at rolling that out across the South Island," Donaldson says.