Commerce Commission guttlessly capitulates to Supermarket Duopoly – Labour won’t do anything

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
89
1603

Sigh.

The dream is over.

The Commerce Commission has been reigned all the way back into making meaningless tinkering to a duopoly that is screwing over Kiwis and denying cheaper food for consumers, better prices for producers and better conditions for workers.

Bernard Hickey points out that for 20 years the Supermarket Duopoly has strangled off competition and rigged the market and Labour are just too gutless to stop them…

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The initial report was radical and suggested the State step in and take a 3rd of the supermarket industry and force competition that way.

I believe it was a strategic political master stroke that Labour should have picked up.

Cost of living is crippling people.

After 2 years of Covid, voters want more than to be told to ‘endure more’.

They need hope.

A new Supermarket chain with a focus on better prices for consumers and producers is the very type of market regulation New Zealander’s are screaming for.

Sadly it’s a project that a timid Labour Party won’t contemplate.

We need big universal ideas that will bring down the cost of our merely living in NZ.

A new Government backed chain of Supermarkets could do that. Likewise free public transport, GST off fruit and vegetables, free school breakfasts ands lunches, mass State House build and free dental for everyone!

We just made the rich a Trillion dollars richer, let’s not pretend there isn’t the money for these types of vast upgrades of people’s existence!

Unfortunately the political Left are too busy calling people they don’t like Nazis and cancelling anyone who doesn’t show their pronouns in their Twitter profile to demand actual solutions to housing, poverty and inequality.

Labour won’t do a thing about the Supermarket Duopoly, if they won’t bother picking up the largest recommendation from the Royal Inquiry into Historic State abuse after calling for it and paying over $140million, they sure as Christ can ignore anything the Commerce Commission is frail enough to suggest.

Labour will merely tinker and the poor will suffer 10% inflation by December.

Sigh.

 

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89 COMMENTS

    • Gaby . Let them eat cake ? Hey, if they’re English pop singers, the PM will personally bake them scones. My old hair dresser used to bake scones for road workers and take them out to them warm and sizzling with marg and I am sure that politicians do this also. No I’m not.

      Still don’t know why the shops don’t flog off old bread cheap. They do this in other countries.

      • or broken biscuits and chocolate mishapes and ‘ugly’ fruit and veg, at least it cuts down on food waste.

  2. Every outcome you don’t like is Labour’s fault. They don’t tell the Commerce Commission what to write.
    With all the moaning from the left and the right you will probably get a change of government and most of you will get exactly what you deserve.
    Personally I am happy to have a government that doesn’t give tax breaks to the rich and doesn’t sell anything.

    • Since when is anyone earning over $60k rich? The old socialist philosophy of hating the rich more than loving the poor hey?

      • Neoliberalism philosophy where everything will trickle down and the reason we have a huge divide in rich and poor.

        • Those that believe Labour are poor are in for a massive shock if they think NACT are the answer, that is a guarantee.

    • no but equally they aren’t bound by the CCs conclusions but it does give them a spurious reason after the can kicking to do precisely nothing.

    • Andrew if you owned just one decent sized Pak n Save you would be doing particularly well, you would have money coming out your ears, do some research and get back to TDB b4 making stupid statements like you normally do.

      • You’d be waiting a long time in hell before he’d stop making stupid comments, he sits just behind any one of the Kraut’s multiple namesake in terms of stupidity.
        Give me investment in supermarkets anyday, that alongside Funeral Directing investment.

    • You might want to take another look – those that own a large New World or a decent Pak’n Save are making millions.

      Once the debt is paid down, a decent Foodstuffs store will generate the owner between $1M to $3M per annum of declared income, ie after tax etc.

      What’s not captured are all the drawings, expenses against the business, salaries to family members, etc that all get washed through the machine.

      It’s an absolute rort and it’s those least able to afford it who suffer most. Just look at the price for a leg of kiwi lamb or 500g of butter in the UK vs here and then tell me again how they’re not making a fortune.

      NZ is known as treasure island in the trade due to the obscene profits the retailers are making.

    • a million a day in EXCESS profits if shareholders aren’t getting a wedge of that, time for shareholders to do something….they’re making it hand over fist…denial of that is as transparent as jacindas crisis what crisis?

      • bert was trying to say their profits aren’t great, I was refuting this propaganda, now mick to address your totally unreated point in a word…ALDI and I don’t care how big a bribe they want.

  4. Reminiscent of their big talk against the oil cartels. They huffed and they puffed and got bored and gave up without a whimper. Nothing happened except we now see the rip off price of higher octane fuels vs the rip off price of lower octane fuels.

    Honestly, a code of conduct? Seriously? And some other meaningless things.

    Foodstuffs and Progressive won’t care. They knew it was all piss and wind. Probably knew the outcome before the government such is the pathetic track record of the Commerce Commission.

    Labour, this is why you are descending in the polls. You are pointless!

    • Fuck All Labour or National can do about market pricing, unless you start bringing in State controlled pricing by the State, just imagine the uproar if Jacinda introduces “State Fuel Pricing”, telling the Oil Companies what to charge and setting the prices in the Supermarkets. They would be labelling her a “Communist” ?

      • Oil dropped to record lows in 2020. It never dropped here or anywhere near the extent crude fell to. But the moment markets indicate a rise, boom, up at the pumps.

        Where was our concerned government then? In the pockets of the oil companies? Or their usual asleep at the wheel?

        They can also start looking at the tax on it. But they won’t.

      • they could say if you want help in a drought, if you want a bail out..etc etc that’s tax payers money in return for that you sell the first 10/15 percent of produce here in NZ for a cost plus price, that will give suppliers a profit and a gauranteed market not subject to fluctuations,plus a large surplus to screw foreigners on and cheaper food for kiwis…..no one loses.

    • a new government they are both shit frankly labour stab you in the back and the nats in the front, you are definitely expecting the latter.

      • Couldn’t agree more. There is NOTHING I have seen from Luxon that suggest change in National for the better. Same old cut taxes party that we can’t afford.

      • Nothings changed same as the last 5 X Reports just different dates and different years on the Reports.

  7. Martyn
    The most infuriating thing about this report is that some govt insider got paid a million bucks over two years to generate a meaningless ‘grand fanfare’ summary page that you and I could have done for half that money….in 5 minutes.

  8. My interpretation of what David Clark said today goes like this.

    “We knew the NZ public have been rorted by Supermarkets for decades but we didn’t know what to do about it. We decided to postpone doing anything by having the Commerce Commission have a drawn out investigation and then come up with recommendations that even blind Freddy can see. We again didn’t know what to do with the recommendations when they arrived so we decided to abdicate responsibility by putting it back on those who have been ripping you off. We are putting some soft cock perfunctory changes on the table that the Supermarkets will need to adopt at their leisure knowing it won’t make a blind bit of difference to the price your groceries cost. To again avoid having to do anything ourselves, we are putting a limp noodle threat in place that if the Supermarkets predictably do nothing except keep rorting you and make pointless cosmetic change, we will eventually have to do something ourselves. What that something is we have no fucking idea”.

    Sadly, Todd Muller was right with one statement he made. Jacinda is surrounded by many empty chairs. That was proven again today.

    • Brilliant summary of what really went down. Now why can’t David Clark and Jacinda say it just like that, instead of framing that report like the best thing since sliced bread? Answer: because that’s how this Labour works. Thank god the public is catching on. Thank god Labour are fooling themselves believing we are all stupid. Keep it up Labour.

    • More like they allowed it to occur in the first place considering Jenny Shipley became head of the grocery council after leaving and then we see another ex National MP in charge now, its like fuel, electricity and housing, its a closed market we have no way of changing but put up with it and these politicians know it.
      Just had reviews on electricity and petrol and now supermarkets and what changes to price gouging in all those sectors? Nothing. Bets on that its political party donations that sway the opinions of politicians.

      • Run by ex National MP’s, seems like they have a few stupid people gullible enough to believe it’s a Labour thing. Thank god the intelligent public know otherwise.

  9. oh c’mon self regulation and a ‘code of conduct’ both measures that work sooooo effectivly in other ‘can kicking scenarios’

    still it’ll provide warm seats and govt money for the lucky few who get to sit on said committees they’ll just rope in and subvert a couple of ‘activists’ as camoflage and bob’s yer uncle.
    cos what this country is in absolute dire need of it’s more paper to shuffle.

    g’night and g’bye jacinda if you choose to do nothing what actual use are you? I mean what is your purpose..? what actual function do you fulfil?

    just can’t see anyone on the lab benches to step up.

  10. NZF wanted to get GST taken off fresh fruit and vegetables and essential food items, obviously couldn’t get it past Jacinda nd the Labour Caucus in the 2017 Coalition Agreement.

  12. This would have to be the worst govt the working class has ever seen.
    Labour, meant to be for the working class but hasnt even started trying to improve their lives.
    Had reviews on poverty and all 25 recommendations got shelved.
    Review into the electricity market and early payers lost their discount and thats about it.
    Beneficiaries got 20 bucks which was then taken out of other supplements meaning zero increase.
    Still waiting on a review on disability but not expecting anything.
    Meanwhile rich working class people temporarily unemployed got 600 bucks a week and businesses got subsidies, Aucklanders got 50,000 vouchers to spend taxpayers money on the taxpayer to prop up Auckland.
    The housing market has skyrocketed under Labour. The Rich got richer, the poor now really at crisis point regardless of the BS the govt is trying to have us beleive.
    And now we have a limp wristed response to a problem we all have, its disgusting what this country has become.
    Give it all to the well off while stepping all over the poor, Labour isnt for the people anymore, they’re just like National and only serve the rich.
    Forget about voting, whats the point, the average joe bloggs is just going to continue getting walked over while these narcisists serve the rich.

    • To be fair to Jacinda and Labour the Housing Market was well and truely f****d before Labour came to power. This was caused by National and John Key bringing 600k Asian Bat Eaters into the country when they were in Power 10-15 years ago.

        • No meltdown bert et al. All good. JK is guilty of all you say. Howzat for a surprise? But here’s the rub: Jacinda came in on this massive promise that “we will fix it!!!” Here comes Kiwibuild, trumpets, fanfares, fireworks, dancing trannies!!!! Truth is, every govt inherits crap policy, but you better be damn careful what you campaign on – well, Labour fucked that one up good and proper. And they will fuck up the ‘monster promise’ rail projects too. And their lame ass inaction on supermarket competition is another own goal fuck up – it’s actually ‘anti Labour philosophy’! They are supposed not give a fuck how the big players feel, they are supposed to enable competition help the poorer people, that what their job should be!!!! But they just don’t. That’s why most elections in NZ are almost fraud: “Hey, let’s promise those poor suckers the earth, get ourselves into power with slogans, collect massive salaries and perks (after all we lived on student loans for most our life) and then get out after 6 or 9 years to have a nice life.” Never mind the carnage left behind.

          • You may want to look to see whose running the monopoly…

            Katherine Rich (née Allison, born 16 December 1967) served as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the National Party from 1999 to 2008. She has been chief executive of the New Zealand Food & Grocery Council, an industry lobby group, since 2009.

            Look internally Krauty…

            ““Hey, let’s promise those poor suckers the earth, get ourselves into power with slogans, collect massive salaries and perks (after all we lived on student loans for most our life) and then get out after 6 or 9 years to have a nice life.” Never mind the carnage left behind.”

            Did you write this directly after National lost power?

            And yes Labour should simply smash the monoply going on but like National, oh and their bum boy party ACT, they won’t.

      • The housing problem began decades ago when National started selling off state houses, Labour came along and were selling off state houses all over the country to pay for new ones in Auckland.
        Meantime Labour under helen clark didnt do anything as house prices started to become unaffordable, then Nationals turn again and swamped us with unskilled immigrants which competed directly with regular kiwis as well as created a shortage of housing which drove up the price.
        Im not going to blame just any particular party, they’re all complicit in the demise of the working class, that limp wristed attitude Labour has is why nothing ever gets corrected after a National slash and burn, its always the guy at the bottom that gets shafted.
        It doesnt help that more than half of politicians own more than one property but for some reason a conflict of interest never seems to apply to them.

  13. Labour don’t get it. Wages are NOT enough, wine is cheaper than petrol, the price of dairy is theft….. and the grocery oligarchs are laughing at us

    • oh they get it kyle they get it alright, it’s just them and theirs are insulated from it, so they as individuals don’t give a flying one…..and it’s the same on the other side of the house EXCEPT the nats are open about their venal greed.

      • Per US gallon. Big difference

        Labour could at least take off the 11 cents per litre judder bar tax in Auckland

        • You miss the point, it’s a record high, that’s the big difference here and yes I agree with the judder bar tax being removed.

          • Bert
            You can spin it anyway you like, you can call me a Nazi as you do when you get all MAFS about it, I can take it so go ahead, you can spend hours digging up any fact about JK or National, and you can even reverse calculate anything you like to the US dollar – this fact won’t change and everyone seems to agree to some extent: Jacinda and Roberston, thus Labour fucked up yesterday by getting all defensive and dodgy and not acknowledging that we have a ‘Cost of Living Crisis’. Followed by Dave Clark being all proud about that lame ass ComCom report. Jacinda and Robertson are seriously disconnected and have probably lost the public. They are too good for us. Arrogance and hubris in spades. Read MB’s post today!!! So you best get friendly with her so you can be on that plane to the UN, employed as her biggest official fan, tasked with waving a little UN flag in the background maybe when she lands in New York and walks the red carpet.

            • Well that was another wankfest from you son, even when the facts are in front of you, you continue to rant and rave son, calm down you’ll pull the thing right off.

              And what the fuck are you on about the P.M. going to the U.N.
              No evidence, none whatsoever, more hubris, hysteria, private vendetta ranting, you are so boring and disconnected from reality.

              By the way, check it out, there’s a war on, and not just in your own head.

            • “You can spin it anyway you like, you can call me a Nazi as you do when you get all MAFS about it, I can take it so go ahead, you can spend hours digging up any fact about JK or National, and you can even reverse calculate anything you like to the US dollar”

              Wow hit a nerve Krauty. Your posts spin more than Shane Warne(RIP)

    • Aldi could go into Joint Ventures with Maaori Iwi Groups as they have the land in certain areas and access to fresh fruit&vegetables, fish, meat etc could be win/win if structured properly.

      • I’ve been arguing for giving aldi free land and the kind of bribes we offer hollywood but it’s not gonna happen in our lifetimes the NZ political class are all venal liars.

    • Yep just like John Key used to do back in the National Party Days. Is there a Housing Crisis = No there is not a housing crisis. Are too many houses being sold to Overseas Investors = No most are being bought by first home buyers and NZ Investors. Just deny, deny, deny, deflect, deflect, deflect, finally everyone gives up and throws their hands up in the air ?

    • naw jody she’s just pulling the three monkeys routine

      you can ignore or deny reality but you can’t escape it’s consequences something she should take note of.

  16. Gutless is indeed the word. The Royal Inquiry into Historic State abuse; the Commerce Commission report on the supermarket duopoly; ignoring – or at best paying lip service to – evidence on nitrate levels in groundwater / waterways. Add your own.

    David Parker was quoted last year on the nitrate /freshwater issue as saying the government had to be careful that it was not “over-regulating parts of the system”. What a fucking joke. And we vote these people into office.
    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/436961/government-not-ruling-out-limits-on-nitrogenous-fertiliser

    Sadly, much the same could be said of the supermarket duopoly, where any ‘over-regulation’ of NZ’s supermarket duopoly is a threat to multinational interests.

  17. Well National/ACT will definitely not change anything these guys would be their major sponsors.

  18. Costco is not too far off for Auckland.
    If the model operates even remotely closely to its US roots, it will shake all the fruit out of the other two’s trees pretty quickly. Costco will kick their arse!
    Look at what happen to telco costs, when the Duopoly was ended. The same should be true for food.

    To the political problems:
    The only possible reason Labour has for doing nothing is; they’re on the take.
    Since they want to reform the laws around political donations, I have an idea.
    Those who donate should have their dets branded on party equipment such as ministerial limos.
    Embroidered on their cloths, stamped and printed on their folders travel bags, anything with any form of profile. Much like a high profile sporting team, or corporate.
    The bigger the donation the more prominent the location.
    Multiple donations from the same donor must be accrued over the full term of govt.

  19. Andrew if you owned just one decent sized Pak n Save you would be doing particularly well, you would have money coming out your ears, do some research and get back to TDB b4 making stupid statements like you normally do.

    • Yes one prominent Pak n Save owner in Hamilton has a racehorse stud and multiple racehorse both here and in Australia, I’d say supermarkets are profitable. These random comments made about super.arkets not being profitable without any evidence to back them up, are just tedious.

  20. In time Jacinda will, possibly but probably not, reflect on when was the the moment she lost the 2023 election. It was yesterday: “I wouldn’t describe it that way” (the Cost of Living crisis). That’s when she lost her connection to the ordinary kiwis. Fuck all that 1pm tv covid theatre….means nothing now.

    • She has had a C*** of a week or two she looked stressed her hands were going every where, she should of had someone else answer those economics detail type question like Robbie the Deputy PM who is the financial guru for Labour.

      She seemed ill prepared for the Interview and she tried to wing it.

  21. Martin the section you quoted around restrictive covenants (from Bernard H) is actually one of the areas that will be addressed. Suppliers seem to be happy with some of the recommendations. I know consumers will say ‘so what’ but its overly simplistic to say this will have no impact on the BIG TWO.

    As for all the comments around a new government what on earth will Nat/ACT do? They will come in and then quietly not do anything when the govt appointed watch dog says the two players are still being obstructive.

    • giving suppliers a well deserved boost won’t help prices at the till, it’s a good thing, food security(even just the basics) is essential and running the producers into the ground is a very bad thing so any help to them is good, the duopoly will just pass on the cost to the public, reducing their profits isn’t an option for them so the govt needs to act but won’t

  22. Completely sad state of NZ with gutless commerce commission. The Guardian has an article today about NZ’s growing cost of living crisis…. go figure. Loads of ineffectual and incomplete ‘investigations’ from NZ so called watch dogs and then nothing happens…. Oh and increasingly nobody does any work anymore too. So eventually something has to give as food and building is more expensive here than anywhere else in the world, but we produce the materials here!

    Meanwhile our media is owned by the groceries companies and rich listers, suppress news here. Only Stuff reported this one – yep even in woke NZ, advertising money is more important than news….

    Calls for Sleepyhead boycott after director shares ‘racist’ email
    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/127955922/calls-for-sleepyhead-boycott-after-director-shares-racist-email

    Pretty sure there was a different tune for the above, while getting iwi on side for their taxpayer paid for fast tracked billion dollar infrastructure private project. The media were full of pro articles for the above, just like the media constantly has articles about how amazing the supermarkets are at keeping NZ open, they are even paying for Kiwis to fly from OZ (where they fled for better wages and conditions) to help them put food on NZ shelves. OMG! They are true Saints! Sarcasm.

    No doubt a knighthood will be given for all their incredible efforts to the above company directors! Sarcasm. Joining Sir Ron Brierly into the fold.

  23. It’s well known that the best way to decrease the cost of oil and gas is to close oil refineries and stop drilling.

  24. During Covid when crude oil dropped to massive lows and it was not worth drilling, don’t seem to remember the petrol companies lowering the price of fuel in NZ. Now there is a war, our petrol companies are quick to seize the opportunity to hike up fuel prices and sock to Labour at the same time. Weird how prices in NZ, only seem to go up with market conditions. Sarcasm.

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