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Isn't it time New Zealanders had fair grocery prices and genuine competition?

Our Story

Fighting for a lower cost of living in NZ

The Grocery Action Group was formed in January 2024 to address the market failure in the New Zealand supermarket sector. This is a long-standing issue.

The 2002 merger of Foodtown into Woolworths (New Zealand) made New Zealand one of only three developed countries with merely two choices of supermarket – Foodstuffs (New World, Pak'nSave and Four Square) or Woolworths Australia (Countdown, Woolworths or Fresh Choice.)

We will address this by identifying and lobbying for ways that will increase genuine market competition in food and grocery retailing, and keeping the issues to the forefront of public debate. Our approach will be outspoken, ambitious, transparent, and focused on the big goal of breaking the duopoly’s hugely lucrative grasp on our country’s food chain.

We know many Kiwi shoppers are unhappy with the duopoly and the effect it has had in driving up the country's cost of living. The lack of competition has also made it incredibly easy for the two groups to disadvantage consumers by using techniques such as deliberate confusion in pricing, shrinkflation (a strategy to maximise profits by gradually reducing the size of products whilst keeping prices the same), intentionally misleading  “specials,” and creating loyalty schemes that do nothing for the shopper.

By working to achieve a genuinely competitive grocery market, we aim to make life and business more straightforward and transparent. Not only are you, as a consumer paying over the odds for your food and groceries, but we see sufficient evidence that the duopolies' purchasing and pricing practices are stifling innovation – unthinkable for a food producing nation such as ours.

That’s why our slogan is “Fighting for Fair Grocery Prices and Genuine Competition.”

 

Please wish us luck. Better still – support us.

 

A little money from every Kiwi shopper would go a long way to help our mission. 

Meet the Team

We’re the Grocery Action Group

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Sue Chetwin, LLB, CNZM (Chair)

Sue Chetwin has more than 17 years’ experience working for and on behalf of consumers. She is the former CEO of Consumer NZ, a position she held for 13 years. She chaired the Government’s review into the drug buying agency Pharmac, and was a member of the Law Society Independent Steering Group Committee considering the terms of reference for the statutory framework for legal services. She chairs an independent consumer panel assisting Chorus prepare its investment proposals to present to the Commerce Commission. She is also a director of Food Standards Australia NZ. and a director of the Financial Markets Authority. Her experience includes 25 years in journalism, including editing Sunday News, Sunday Star Times and the Herald on Sunday. She was awarded a CNZM in 2021 for services to consumers.

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Deborah Hart LLB, MInstD

Deborah currently chairs the Consumer Advocacy Council which advocates for residential and small business electricity consumers, the Retirement Villages’ Residents’ Council, and the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand. She sits on the Human Rights Review Tribunal and has served as a lay member of the High Court. She advises on government relations and mentors executives. A solicitor by training, she is the former executive director at the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand. More recently Deborah was the chair of the independent review of Aoteoroa New Zealand’s electoral laws.

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Gilbert Peterson (Treasurer)

Gilbert Peterson was for 15 years Communications Manager at the Employers & Manufacturers Association based in Auckland. Prior to that he was for two years editor of TUANZ Topics magazine, 12 years at the NZ Manufacturers Federation in Wellington, and five years at the former DSIR. His experience includes feature writing, book and magazine publishing, editing  and small business management.

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Mavis Mullins, Rangitāne, Te Atihaunui-a-Paparangi and Ngāti Ranginui iwi

Mavis Mullins is a recognised leader in Aotearoa’s primary industry who has chaired a number of large Māori land based incorporations and is patron of Agri-Women’s Development Trust (AWDT). Mavis is a passionate advocate for innovation and mentorship with a sharp focus on equity, agribusiness and environmental issues. Her governance leadership within Hautaki Ltd and Te Huarahi Tika Trust saw the launch of 2degress which busted the mobile phone duopoly of the day. She has received many honours and awards including Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (NZMN), induction into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame and Outstanding Māori Business Leader of the Year from the University of Auckland.

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Sarah Balle

Sarah was the founder of Supie, an online supermarket competitor, which sadly failed last year. Her motive was better and fairer supermarket prices. She emerged from that experience bruised but determined to help consumers and suppliers get a better deal. She has an MBA and is a qualified accountant. She was an EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Her knowledge of how the supermarket industry works is invaluable to the group.

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Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Manu

Nanaia has had a long and influential career in politics. She was a New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Foreigh Affairs from 2020 to2023. She has also served as Minister of Māori Affairs and Minister of Local government. Her most recent electorate was Hauraki-Waikato. She has strong connections to the kīngitanga movement. She brings strong political, strategic, Māori business and community interests to our group.

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