Seymour’s sensible-sounding supermarket fix leaves the real problem untouched

Grocery Action Group chair Sue Chetwin has voiced strong criticism of Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour's proposal to invite international supermarkets to New Zealand. Chetwin argues that Seymour's plan, which aims to free up land, attract new brands, and boost investment to sharpen competition, sounds sensible but ultimately fails to address the fundamental problem.

Chetwin contends that the core issue is the dominance of existing players in the market, and Seymour's proposal does not tackle this head-on. She believes that simply bringing in new international brands will not be enough to significantly increase competition or drive down prices for New Zealand consumers.

Her assessment suggests that while the intention behind Seymour's initiative may be to improve the grocery market, its practical impact will be limited if the underlying structural issues of market concentration are not resolved.

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Seymour’s invitation to international supermarkets sounds sensible enough: free up land, attract new brands, bring in more investment and sharpen competition so consumers