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Consumer NZ: 32% don’t trust supermarkets

Esther Taunton

Trust in New Zealand’s supermarket industry is plummeting, with research showing almost a third of Kiwis no longer trust supermarkets.

A survey by Consumer NZ found the number of people who did not trust supermarkets had almost doubled since June last year, jumping from 17% to 32% last month.

Of the 15 industries measured, supermarkets had seen the most significant decline in trust over the past 10 months.

‘‘It’s particularly concerning that consumer trust in a sector that is essential to our wellbeing as a nation, and is virtually impossible for consumers to do without, is seeing such a marked decline,’’ Consumer

NZ chief executive

Jon Duffy said.

‘‘The Commerce Commission’s study into the grocery sector found the duopoly is consistently making profits in excess of what it should.

Couple that with cost-of-living challenges, and no wonder there has been an erosion of trust in the supermarket industry.’’

Duffy said although some temporary measures recently introduced to address high prices would help struggling consumers, supermarkets ‘‘shouldn’t be applauded’’. ‘‘We should be asking how a lack of competition has been allowed to create this situation in the first place.’’

In its final report into the $22 billion grocery industry, the Commerce Commission stopped short of recommending Countdown and Foodstuffs be forced to sell parts of their businesses, despite estimating they were making about $430 million a year in excess profits.

Chairwoman Anna Rawlings said measures to break up the businesses would be ‘‘highly complex to develop and would be unprecedented in our view’’.

The commission instead recommended smaller changes that it said would improve competition, including encouraging but not forcing Countdown and Foodstuffs to wholesale groceries to rivals.

‘‘The . . . study . . . found the duopoly is consistently making profits in excess of what it should.’’

Jon Duffy

News

en-nz

2022-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-27T07:00:00.0000000Z

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