Supermarket operators not behaving as they should need to analyse whether they have consumers best interests at heart, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says.
In a draft report released this morning, the Commerce Commission said the duopoly of Foodstuffs and Countdown was working against consumers and food producers, and stifling the chances of further bigger players coming into the market.
The Commission will next seek feedback from the public and the sector including a consultation conference from 21 to 24 September, with submissions closing Thursday 26 August.
Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark responds to the Commerce Commission s draft report.
Photo: Marika Khabazi
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But less certain is what if any steps the commission might recommend to increase competition or bring down prices for consumers. Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark said in November when he announced the review that New Zealand had one of the “most concentrated retail grocery markets in the world” and there were indications that competition in the sector had weakened over time. One competition expert believed Countdown and Foodstuffs, which owns the New World, Pak’n Save and Four Square chains, might be in for a surprise. Although not tipped as likely when the review was announced, the Commerce Commission could go as far as to recommend “vertically or horizontally separating” the supermarket chains, in its draft report, the expert said.