Since the release of the study's findings, the duopoly of the two major supermarket chains, Foodstuffs and Countdown, has been sharply criticised, with critics saying the report's recommendations had not gone far enough.
Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said every day the supermarkets were taking more than $1 million in excess profits from people's collective back pockets and were twice what they should be.
"We need more competition to drive down prices and give New Zealanders a fairer price at the checkout," Duffy said.
"No one is going to start up a competing supermarket without reliable access to wholesale groceries, but currently the duopoly dominates access to wholesale supply.
"The Commerce Commission has recommended the supermarkets consider supplying other retailers.
"We think this is unrealistic to expect from an entrenched duopoly used to calling the shots. That is why we're launching a petition."
Duffy said to create an even playing field for new and existing grocery retailers, Consumer NZ was asking Minister Clark to consider regulating access to wholesale supply or setting up a state-owned wholesaler.
The details of Consumer NZ's request have been outlined in an open letter to the minister.
Duffy said there was power in numbers and the organisation, therefore, needed to show the Government people wanted action.
"Sign our petition and share it with your family and friends. We want to create the conditions for more competition in the grocery sector, which will ultimately result in fairer prices.
"We recognise food prices are going up for a variety of reasons, from the pandemic, to inflation, to the impact of the war in Ukraine on wheat prices.
"We're not disputing this, but excess profits on top of already-high food prices are a slap in the face for households struggling to put food on the table."
Recent data has shown food price inflation remained high in April following its 10-year high last month, StatsNZ said last week.
Food prices were 6.4 per cent higher in April 2022 compared with April 2021. This was due to rises across all food categories.
Grocery food was the largest contributor to this movement, mainly due to increases in the price of cheddar cheese, milk and eggs, although some individual categories rose more.
Fruit and vegetable prices increased 9.4 per cent and meat, poultry, and fish prices rose 8.1 per cent.
Overall grocery food prices increased 6.4 per cent, restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased 5.3 per cent and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 2.8 per cent.
On a monthly basis, fruit and vegetables fell 3.1 per cent from March 2022 to April 2022, mainly due to falls in the price of broccoli, lettuce and kiwifruit.
Overall monthly food prices were 0.1 per cent higher in April 2022 compared with March 2022.
According to Consumer NZ, the organisation's Sentiment Tracker had found people were increasingly worried about the cost of living.
Furthermore, last year 63 per cent of respondents picked food and grocery costs as their biggest cost-of-living concern, with a recent poll showing 98 per cent of respondents were worried about the price of groceries.
Last week Foodstuffs, operator of Pak'nSave, New World and Four Square supermarkets, announced plans to cut the price of food by an average of 10 per cent across 110 of its most-shopped grocery items.
To find out more about the petition, go to: consumer.org.nz
