By Colin Ambler/cvnznews.com
Foodstuffs North Island is talking up “growing competition” and “more choice for customers” — but the Commerce Commission’s own Annual Grocery Report, released just an hour earlier, paints a far more sobering picture: the supermarket duopoly remains almost completely intact, with more than 80% market control and little meaningful national change.
The contrast is stark.
In its release, Foodstuffs CEO Chris Quin says the grocery sector is “continuing to evolve,” pointing to more formats, more cross‑shopping, and customers visiting 3.5 brands a week. But ComCom’s Pierre van Heerden was blunt: reforms have not yet shifted the fundamentals, margins remain flat, prices have risen, and the big chains still dominate the landscape.
The Commission’s message was clear — competition is inching, not accelerating.
Quin argues that shoppers now spread their spending across multiple channels, with 95% buying outside traditional supermarkets. But ComCom’s report warns that while specialty stores and alternative retailers are growing, they remain “small, fragmented, and unable to materially shift industry‑wide metrics.”
In other words: yes, people are cross‑shopping — but the duopoly still captures the lion’s share of the money.
Foodstuffs leans heavily on the narrative that competition looks different in smaller towns, where it often operates the only full‑range supermarket. ComCom, meanwhile, has repeatedly highlighted that restrictive land covenants and decades‑long control of key sites helped create that very situation.
The co‑op lists a long catalogue of compliance work — Supply Code training, pricing integrity systems, wholesale expansion, digital upgrades — but these are regulatory obligations, not competitive breakthroughs.
And while Foodstuffs says it is “absorbing costs where possible,” suppliers told ComCom a familiar story: power imbalances persist, pressure remains high, and the playing field is still far from level.
The Commission’s verdict: progress, yes — but the duopoly hasn’t budged.
Foodstuffs’ verdict: everything’s evolving.
Tomorrow morning’s readers will decide which version feels closer to the truth at the checkout.
