Countdown supermarket owners Woolworths NZ say they welcome the final report released by the Commerce Commission, following the market study of New Zealand’s grocery sector.
Spencer Sonn, Managing Director, Woolworths NZ says: “We would like to thank the Commission for its work. It is good to have clarity around the path ahead. Our team of 20,000 Kiwis is under immense pressure at the moment, and our focus is always to make sure we can help provide food and groceries to New Zealanders at this uncertain time.
“Like the government, we want New Zealanders to be confident that our supermarkets are good places to shop, and that as a business we are good to work with. As we’ve heard through the market study process, we know that some changes are not only required, but expected of us.
“We support the changes the Commission has recommended and we’ll continue to engage constructively with the government to make them happen.
“Supplier partnerships are a very important part of our business, which is why we support the introduction of a mandatory grocery code to ensure all retailers are held to the same standards.
“We also support having greater clarity and consistency across retailers around unit pricing and promotions, and we support making changes to land covenants to help free up sites for more supermarkets to be developed. We agree with the Commission’s finding that planning law changes could also play an important part in this.
“We hear the concerns raised about improving the wholesale supply to third party retailers, and we are committed to working with the government on what this could look like.
“We’ll now take the time to read the report in detail. We know there’s certainly a lot of work for us to do in the coming months, and again we thank the Commission for its work and thorough process,” says Sonn.
