A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
Prices at our supermarkets could be on the way down next year, helping to counter rising inflation expectations, with the Government saying it will do “whatever it takes” to ensure New Zealanders get a fair deal at the checkout.
The country’s supermarket duopoly and their “super profits” are in the
crosshairs of the Commerce Commission and Government, with a 517-page draft report out yesterday finding a lack of competition had allowed them to push up prices and exert unfair power over suppliers.
Also under the spotlight is the complexity of their pricing strategies, promotions and loyalty programmes — which the commission says can confuse customers — and the challenges for any competitor wanting to enter the market, such as a lack of competitively-priced wholesale supply or suitable sites for large-scale stores; add to that the small size of the New Zealand market making it less attractive.
Foodstuffs, the cooperative behind New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square, and Australian company Woolworths, which owns the Countdown chain, have between them cornered 90 percent of the New Zealand grocery market.
The commission found grocery prices here were the sixth highest in the OECD group of 38 mostly developed countries in 2017. It says the structure of the market has allowed the chains to earn returns on capital in excess of 20 percent.
