Criminal Charges Against Major Supermarkets - Supermarket News

The Commission alleged inaccurate pricing and misleading specials that may have breached the Fair Trading Act.

“Shoppers should have confidence that the price they see will be the price they pay, and specials really are special,” said Commerce Commission Deputy Chair Anne Callinan.

“Supermarkets have long been on notice about the importance of accurate and clear pricing and specials, and we’re not satisfied with the continuing issues we’re seeing across the industry.”

Callinan said that pricing accuracy was a consumer right and an expectation of a competitive market. The major supermarkets are large, well-resourced businesses that should have invested the time and effort to get pricing and promotions right.

“Since the Commission’s 2022 market study into groceries, we’ve had a sustained focus on pricing integrity in the sector. Our Chair, John Small and Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden have made our expectations clear to the supermarkets that they have to improve things.”

The charges filed against major supermarket brands serve as a reminder to all supermarket operators that the Commission has expected them to fix ongoing pricing accuracy issues and implement better processes to prevent issues like these in the future.

Woolworths NZ, Pak’nSave Silverdale, and Pak’nSave Mill Street will be charged separately. The Commission has also been investigating other supermarket operators.

Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden said the Commission's work to establish a mandatory disclosure standard under the Grocery Industry Competition Act will make it easier to identify trends and issues in the future and remediate them.

“The standard will require the major supermarkets to regularly disclose information about customer complaints, including around pricing and promotional issues,” said van Heerden.

“The major supermarkets don’t have consistent processes for recording customer complaints – the lack of clarity and reporting means supermarkets can’t identify potential compliance issues within their businesses. This impacts consumers as their complaints may not be being dealt with effectively, which we would expect in a competitive market.”

The Commission has been working with the major supermarkets on the information to be included in the standard and expects to publish a draft in the new year.

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