The Commerce Commission has published submissions on its outline of the preliminary issues it may explore and the proposed scope for its Market Study into the Grocery Sector.
The Government asked it to look at a range of things, including: how retailers deal with their suppliers such as manufacturers, producers, farmers and growers; competition at the supplier level of the grocery market; who consumers buy groceries from and who supplies those retailers; competition between retailers; what retailers charge consumers for groceries and how they decide on prices, as well as associated levels of service, product range and quality of groceries.
The Commission says outcomes may range from a ‘clean bill of health’ for the sector to recommendations to industry and/or the Government for changes to make competition in the market work better.
As part of continuing engagement with stakeholders, next week the Commission intends to release fact sheets and online surveys for consumers and suppliers. The two surveys are designed to help build a detailed picture of how competition is working at different levels of the grocery sector.
The Commission will release a draft report for consultation in the middle of the year, with the final going to the Government by 23 November.
The submissions, including NZFGC’s, is on the Commission’s website here