Henare O'Keefe has called supermarket food prices during the lockdown "legalised looting". Photo / File
Flaxmere councillor and Hastings ambassador Henare O'Keefe says some Hawke's Bay supermarkets are engaging in "legalised looting" by hiking prices during the lockdown.
But the chief executive of Foodstuffs is denying the claim, saying theywon't come out of the lockdown as "the super profiteers".
New Zealand is currently at level 4 lockdown, and with butchers, markets and local fruit stores closed, Foodstuffs and Countdown have a near-monopoly on major food purchasing.
O'Keefe said the supermarkets so far that he and his community were avoiding because of alleged price hikes were Pak'nSave (both in Napier and Hastings) and New World Onekawa - all Foodstuffs supermarkets.
On Monday a photo of a half cauliflower for sale for $7 at Pak'nSave Napier was widely shared on social media, with commenters mostly fuming at the price.
The woman who shared the cauliflower photo, Teresa Vercoe, told Hawke's Bay Today she respected what supermarkets were doing for the community in the lockdown.
What she wanted to point out with the photo was that high prices for fruit and vegetables would only create food wastage, which was "ridiculous" during a time of lockdown and economic woe, she said.
O'Keefe, however, said he found it "abhorrent".
"Supermarkets are using the supply/demand excuse, and they are telling porkies.
"Our people are not dumb. I want to know how on earth do they justify it when the community is in lockdown and people are already struggling."
He said places hiking up their prices were "kicking a person when they were down".
"What bothers me is that people are going without, because of the price hike, and they are the vulnerable," O'Keefe said. "I want them to cut it out."
A Foodstuffs spokeswoman said the price of groceries varied across New Zealand and the idea of "price hiking" wasn't true.
"Grocery prices vary depending on lots of reasons including seasonality and availability, these market pressures continue to occur regardless of Covid-19, but to say stores are 'hiking prices' is simply not true."
Foodstuffs North Island CEO Chris Quin said suppliers have been under "intense pressure" for weeks due to Covid-19, meaning products New Zealand may have had a ready supply of may not be available in the short term.
"This isn't a concern for New Zealand as we have plenty of products grown and produced here, but we have to remember we are coming out of a long hot summer, one which put a large part of New Zealand into drought," he said.
"This had a huge impact on our farming community and growers, so customers need to appreciate the usual seasonal supply and demand pressures still exist.
"The reality exists that if you buy a cauliflower in March you are buying it out of season, on the back of a drought – it will not be cheap. Broccoli on the other hand, is a great buy at the moment."
At the Prime Minister's coronavirus update on Monday, Jacinda Ardern said the government had set up a new public email address to report any cases of price hikes.
Ardern said officials have been in daily contact with the major supermarkets, but had found no evidence yet.
"While we have found no evidence, we are setting up a channel where people can report any cases or concerns that they may have," she said.
"I have already seen some reports made online on social media. Now I asked those individuals to send those reports – a copy of your receipt, a simple photo of what you've seen.
"Nobody wants to see anybody take unfair financial advantage form this extraordinary period."
The PM asked the public to contact pricewatch@mb.govt.nz to report any potential cases.
O'Keefe said in the absence of supermarket leadership, the community was filling the vacuum for the most vulnerable.