Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden has released an update on progress in New Zealand’s grocery industry.
He reports: “It has been a busy year for the Commission as we continue to make progress in the grocery sector. As important participants in the sector I know that our work has likely kept you busy this year as well, and so I’d like to thank you for all the feedback, information, and engagement you’ve provided.
“In particular I’d like to thank those who completed our supplier survey in November. We had over 550 responses, which will all be reviewed and contribute to our ongoing work.
“We’ve hit some big milestones – the Grocery Supply Code came into effect for existing agreements and we provided feedback to the major supermarkets on their templates, we announced a review of the supply code which is currently underway, unit pricing requirements came into effect for physical stores on the 31st of August 2024, we released the first Annual Grocery Report and announced the commencement of a Wholesale Supply Inquiry on the 4th of September, on the 1st of October we announced the Commission’s decision on the merger application from Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island, and on the 10th of December we announced that we were filing criminal charges against a number of supermarket operators for what we allege were misleading specials and pricing inaccuracies.
“The first Annual Grocery Report (the Report) provided the first comprehensive analysis of the state of competition in the grocery sector since the Commission’s Market Study. The Report showed that there had been no significant increase in competition – with continued high levels of profitability, increasing retail margins, and ongoing dominance of the industry by the major supermarkets. The report also included a progress assessment of the supermarkets’ wholesale offers, which have been developed in response to requirements within the Grocery Industry Competition Act 2023 (“the Act”). The progress assessment identified issues with range and pricing that have led to us commence an inquiry under s 55 of the of the Act to consider whether stronger regulation is necessary.
“As part of the release of the Report, we also outlined what we’re doing next to drive competition and improve outcomes for consumers. This work is already underway including the review of the Grocery Supply Code and the Wholesale Supply Inquiry, and further effort is being made to shine a light on margins and complaints with disclosure standards, as well as to looking into the impact of non-retail land holdings on grocery competition.
“The Commission is continuing to work at pace as we progress these next steps and it’s so important that we hear from you and other stakeholders. You can contact the Commission directly by emailing grocery.regulation@comcom.govt.nz, or use our anonymous reporting tool. We’re getting some good responses through our anonymous reporting tool, and I encourage grocery industry participants to continue using this to share any issues with us.”
If you wish to get in touch with the grocery team or subscribe to the newsletter, please contact grocery.regulation@comcom.govt.nz.
