As NZ shunts towards the election, the level of desperation generated by our under regulated capitalism is demanding attention like never before…
Revealed: Cut supermarkets make on products has more than doubled since 90s, suppliers claim
In April, Newshub revealed what Consumer NZ calls disturbingly high margins supermarkets make on the food they sell – in some cases, they’re pocketing more than half the shelf price.
Now, Newshub can reveal just how much those margins have grown, known in supplier circles as “margin creep”.
Two long-time suppliers, who wish to remain anonymous, claimed the cut supermarkets make on their products has more than doubled since the 1990s. Both suppliers said they sell dry-packed products.
They said back then, the supermarket took 12 to 15 percent, compared to today where it sits between 35 and 41 percent.
That means if their food item sells for $1, the supermarket is now taking around 25 cents more than it was 30 years ago.
…the dominant position the Supermarket Duopoly has built ensures they control the market and that the power of competition doesn’t allow for consumers to enjoy the fruits of capitalism.
Meanwhile migrant labour is being exploited and the lack of policing the existing rules by the Government is laid bare…
‘The system is f…..’: Immigration staff say bosses knew visa system didn’t work, and ignored it
Immigration New Zealand staff have been warning their managers for a year that the under-fire Accredited Employer Work Visa(AEWV) system has major flaws and is a recipe for migrant exploitation – but were ignored.
Concerned INZ staff say employers are being allowed to bring in migrants without any paperwork or financial checks, even when immigration officers fear jobs may be fake, paid for with illegal premiums, or the migrants will be exploited.
Instead, they say, they’ve been told to focus on faster processing times.
This is just so outrageous and the timeline gets worse and worse for Labour!
Barely a week ago, Andrew Little was on Q+A getting grilled by Jack Tame on the Worker Visa accreditation scheme that effectively trusts the 27 000 accredited to not exploit the 77 000 migrant workers.
Jack challenges the process and argues the system is only funded to review 15% of applications yet to date had barely reviewed 3% and of the 27 000 accredited, the Government had dumped only 2.
The Minister struggled to look credible as he sat with a straight face and declared the current 3% was working fine.
24 hours later Newshub is breaking a story about 50 migrant workers living in a South Auckland slum exploited by the Worker Visa accreditation scheme .
The Minister stood by his previous statements.
Then Newshub break that the number of migrant workers being exploited is now 100.
The Minister, while standing by his previous statements that barely 3% of the 27 000 accredited employers means the system is working, he does now agree that an investigation is necessary.
Then Newshub finally arrive at a total of 115 migrant workers exploited and scammed into using this accreditation scheme minus any jobs.
Andrew Little turns on the Ministry and demands to know why the system is falling to pieces.
Under pressure from the Bosses, Labour threw open the immigration floodgates with zero checks and balances and simply trusted bosses not to exploit the workers they were bringing in.
We are now told that the barest checks and balances promised weren’t even adhered to and they just rubber stamped the exploitation!
How are domestic workers supposed got compete against exploited migrant labour?
Then we have the Commerce Commission investigation into the Drainage Industry and market dominance of a few players…
Commerce Commission to investigate Drainage monopoly while Kāinga Ora fuels it
The Commerce Commission has agreed to investigate monopoly practices inside the drainage industry while Kāinga Ora continues to fuel it.
The insanely under regulated NZ industry allows for monopolies and duopolies and oligopolies to form and there is a huge one inside the drainage industry, but because it’s all under ground, the full costs of this uncompetitive market is hidden.
…we can’t keep having under regulated capitalism that creates duopolies, monopolies and oligopolies!
We aren’t asking for sweeping new powers or over the top communism here, all we are looking for is the industry as it currently exists being properly policed!
Supermarket duopolies shouldn’t be screwing us because of a lack of competition, Migrant workers shouldn’t be getting exploited and the cost of housing should be brought down by increasing competition in the drainage industry!
There are basic solutions to all these issues, I’m not looking for socialism from the NZ Government, just basic regulated capitalism.
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Regulation enforcement costs money. It doesn’t deliver votes. Very few voters want to pay taxes for it.
It is very much like water infrastructure in those aspects.
If that regulation gave you cheaper food prices you wouldn’t be prepared for tax dollars to go to it? There’s only two supermarket chains and they are very much computerised. I am sure you could find electronic relatively cheap means to monitor margins almost to the point of real time
I’m prepared to pay for adequate regulation. It is my profession in some respects.
But most people wouldn’t even think of it, and if you ask them what they want more money spent on, it wouldn’t be enforcement.
Really? So people are happy to pay for more law enforcement to protect them from something that statistically still has a low chance of happening to them, but not to stop something happening to them every week at the supermarket? You obviously didn’t ask me!
Labour have had two terms and all they have done is put in place more ministries of nothingness and implement race based policies. They have had years to do the stuff that needs done but it wasn’t on their idealistic agenda. We need to pull back some of this wasted tax dollar to be able to afford to do the real stuff. All labour and the greens want us to tax more to waste your earnings.
Yet another chronology of this Labour Government’s failures.
lol – have you got some cognitive dissonance waiting ahead for you.
It’s all about the economy, stupid, until society collapses underfoot and the economy along with it. Stupid. More people in! The people farmers need more human livestock!!
Why has the Minister of Immigration not resigned yet. Why hasn’t the PSC fired the head of the Immigration Department?
Andrew Little the well known bully operates to different rules.
Chippy has run out of replacements anyway.
I don’t expect your crowd developing a heart, tin man.
” Andrew Little the well known bully operates to different rules.
You mean like Tim van de Molen and Uffenal ! for a start.
We are in a race to the bottom by trying to race to the top. While I support a liveable minimum wage the various entrepreneurial types who have high opinions of their ability along with management who are able to set their income all increase their rates to maintain what they consider an appropriate income advantage. I know that it is common for trades to have a 40 – 50% margin on materials & labor supplied because they need to allow for a higher income along with other payroll requirements for staff (holiday pay, sick pay, etc.) so it is not surprising that things are getting more expensive. Your guess is as good as mine into how long it will keep going although given the increased debt worldwide I suspect that hard times are on their way.
Does the so-called “cut” take overheads into account?
can’t wait for the AI to wreak havoc and take it all down. We’re in an end game and I just want to hurry up and get there.
You know somethings amiss in in the food sector when 10 corner grocers have found themselves on the NBR Top 100 Rich List. They don’t grow, manufacture, design, build or value add anything. When competition comes down to which company has the flashiest store its an oligopoly.