The Commerce Commission decision recognises the very real concerns of both suppliers and consumers that have been clearly articulated and supported by evidence in the Commerce Commission’s three rounds of submissions and cross-submissions,” said Raewyn Bleakley, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Food & Grocery Council.
“This was one of the most significant and complex mergers that the Commission has ever considered given the unique characteristics of our grocery market and that how it functions impacts all New Zealanders. We acknowledge that this has been an uncertain time for the industry and the teams at Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island will be disappointed.
“In our role as the voice of suppliers we sought and represented our members' views, evidenced through a supplier survey and further information gathered. This informed our submissions demonstrating the genuine concerns that a merger would likely result in a substantial lessening of competition in the grocery retail market for suppliers.
“New Zealand Food & Grocery Council has long advocated for competition reform to address the concentration of market power because it has many challenging impacts on the suppliers we represent and for consumers. The 2022 Market Study identified concerns about the concentration in the grocery sector and subsequent measures to de-concentrate the industry were considered and addressed by the government. The concern was that this merger proposal would result in further concentration and exacerbate these well-known issues. Given the findings of the Market Study, and that subsequent regulation under the Grocery Industry Competition Act was required to address the anti-competitive effects in the market and to provide protections for suppliers, we could not see how the Commission could be satisfied that the proposed merger would not substantially lessen competition. We welcome the decision announced today.”
“We look forward to the Commerce Commission’s determination to be published later this month, and we will take the time to understand the detail of the decision better.”
Attributed to Raewyn Bleakley, Chief Executive
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