New Zealand produces enough food to feed a population of 60 million. But it only has 5 million. Despite that, Kiwis pay ridiculously high food prices, and that's because the food chain is controlled by a duopoly, two big supermarket chains.
Successive governments always promise retail reform, threatening to break up these two giants. Why don't they do it? They promise, conduct inquiries, and constantly look into it. Endless looking, never any doing.
So, the government does the usual again, announcing possible changes. Maybe, in a couple of years time. Is this announcement because National are behind the opposition Labour party in recent polls? That's probably it, because National will never actually do anything.
The government says all options are on the table to introduce more competition into the supermarket sector, which could include the break-up or restructuring of the two existing supermarket chains.
Currently the Woolworths and Foodstuffs chains dominate New Zealand's supermarket sector.
Cabinet has also agreed to a formal request for information (RFI) to accelerate improved competition.
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"Officials are working with the appointed advisors to consider options including a possible demerger of existing entities."
Willis said there were a range of views about what that design would look like.
"Do you separate the wholesale from the retail? Do you split the existing brands up? And if you do that, what is required in terms of their wholesaling and warehousing and logistics, how would they be broken up to match the new brands?"
The advice she is seeking asks "what actually is the ideal market structure" and how can that be achieved.
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