Sue Chetwin: Grocery Action Group Chair on NZ Initiative's plan to add competition to the grocery sector

The Grocery Action Group is unconvinced by a proposal to rapidly add competition to the grocery sector. 

The New Zealand Initiative wants the Government to introduce a "fast track pathway" to allow new entrants to enter the market, rather than forcing any break-up of the existing supermarket companies. 

It includes streamlining rezoning, consenting and investment clearance processes. 

The group's Sue Chetwin told Ryan Bridge it's more of a nice to have. 

She says to get more competitors, the government will need to force existing supermarkets to give up some of their stores. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ryan Bread Many Jeland Initiative have come up with a
plan to bring competition to the grocery sector. They've drafted
up a bill for the government. Here you go on
a platter. They say that consents and rezoning processes need
to be streamlined with a pathway opened up for a
third retailer. So Chetwin's the Grocery Action Group with us
this morning. So good morning, good morning. What do you
make of this? No need to bash the heads of

(00:22):
these duopolies. You just actually get government out of the way.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Look, I think that this would be nice to have,
but you have to recognize that this report would have
been put out with the financial support of Willworth food
Stuff and Fonterra, who are really big supporters probably of
the status quo. So what our problem in New Zealand

(00:51):
is is not that we don't have enough land. We
have enough supermarkets, but what we have is too few operators.
We have too few competitors. And what this government has
seen is that we can't get a competitor because we're
paying the highest price to some of the highest prices

(01:12):
in the world because we have a lack of competition.
What we need is more competitors. And to get more competitors,
they probably have to look at forcing the existing the
incumbents to actually divest some of the stores that they have,
because we have plenty of super markets, we just don't
have enough operators.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
You said there's enough land. Whenever anyone tries to build anything,
there is opposition. There's I mean there's a labor MP
in christ Church is trying to stop a supermarket being built.
I interviewed the former managing director of Costco. He said
the biggest problem was zoning for land and bringing his
supermarket here. So there is a problem there isn't there.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
I think, as I said, I think this would be
a nice to have. But all all the land that
would have been useful for food and markets has in
the past being bought by will Web and food Stuffs,
food stuffs to stop others competing, and the Communist Commission
has stopped that behavior.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
They've yeah, so so that land is now you think though,
so you think this is this report has actually just
been bought by the big dogs.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Look, I think it. I think it has. It's to
slow down any activity because Nikola Willis has definitely said
that she's looking at this and divestment is on the table.
They want to stop that happening because that would encourage
real competition. And even within this report they talk about,

(02:50):
you know, oh, freeing up land for twelve new players,
well twelve new are sorry, twelve twelve new stores. But
that's not going to cut mustard. I mean, thirty news
stores wouldn't cut the mustard. Now we're talking about allowing
competition to come into this country at scale fast, so
that actually means divestment.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
So appreciate your Timesponling Seedshipwin Grosser Reaction Group for more
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