After an 18-month delay, the forthcoming election has at last prompted Grocery Minister Nicola Willis to promise a supermarket separation next year if National is re-elected, and the plan is indeed promising.
The Grocery Action Group (GAG) was pleased that Kiwi grocery shoppers finally have a better choice of supermarkets to look forward to.
The additional price competition resulting from the separation of ownership of Pak'nSave from New World and Four Square should benefit especially consumers in the regions.
“But it's an indictment on the government that it's taken such a long time to address the ongoing crisis in our cost of living," said Mavis Mullins for GAG.
“The price of food in a food-producing nation such as ours should also not have to become a political issue in the way it now has."
Mullins said Willis said last year she wanted legislation in Parliament before the end of the previous year to address the supermarket duopoly and pass it into law by now. But it's also reassuring that, under this National plan, the Commerce Commission would be given responsibility for overseeing its implementation.
“Currently we pay some of the highest prices on the planet for food, and none of the many regulatory changes implemented has been effective in curbing the profits of the duopoly, which were assessed several years ago at running at a million dollars a day.”
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