Information for wholesale customers
The Grocery Industry Competition Act (GICA) establishes a new wholesale supply regime that creates obligations on the regulated grocery retailers (‘RGRs’ - Woolworths NZ, Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island) to set up systems to facilitate wholesale supply to other grocery retailers.
This is intended to make it easier for businesses to enter the grocery retailer market and to support the growth of existing grocery retailers.
Regulated grocery retailers must consider requests for wholesale supply from other retailers in good faith. The Commission is monitoring the regulated grocery retailers to ensure that they are making meaningful progress towards providing a reliable, cost-effective wholesale offering.
In determining the need for additional intervention the GICA requires the Commerce Commission to consider whether the retailers wholesale offerings are consistent with wholesale offerings provided in a competitive wholesale market. Regulatory “back stop” provisions have been built into the GICA to facilitate swift action if it is considered that they are needed. Undertaking these assessments and gaining a general understanding of how the sector is functioning are among our main tasks in the first year of the regime.
You can find out more about the wholesale offerings of the regulated grocery retailers on the following web pages:
- Foodstuffs North Islandopen_in_new
- Foodstuffs South Islandopen_in_new
- Woolworths New Zealandopen_in_new
We encourage suppliers to participate in the wholesale. Retailers seeking wholesale supply from the regulated grocery retailers can raise with the Commission any concerns they have about whether the RGRs are meeting their obligations around wholesale supply under the Act.
To get in touch, contact us via grocery.regulation@comcom.govt.nz or submit an anonymous report.
Grocery retailer survey
We are seeking grocery retailer feedback about the wholesale supply of grocery products via an online survey. This survey focuses on recent experiences with the wholesale grocery market.
The feedback from this survey will help the Commerce Commission develop measures to monitor the wholesale supply of groceries and will inform the Commission’s Wholesale Supply Inquiry which is considering whether additional regulation are required to improve wholesale access. You can read more about this work on our Wholesale Supply Inquiry webpage.
The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. This survey can be completed anonymously. You are not required to include your name or the name of your business.
Complete the Grocery Retailer surveyopen_in_new.
The survey will close on Thursday 2 April 2026.
Responses will remain confidential and are essential in building our understanding, guiding improvements and ensuring fair practices.
A report will be published online to summarise this survey’s findings. This report will not identify businesses by name. All questions are optional. If you do not feel comfortable answering any question, you can skip it.
Resolve a dispute
A dispute resolution scheme has been set up to help resolve disputes between grocery suppliers and regulated grocery retailers. The scheme is an out-of-court process set up under the Grocery Industry Competition Act 2023 and designed to quickly and fairly resolve disputes about the supply of groceries.
The scheme is operated by the New Zealand Dispute Resolution Centre.
For more information, please visit www.grocerydispute.co.nzopen_in_new.
Submit an anonymous report
We recognise there are situations where someone who has knowledge or specific information about the conduct of a grocery industry participant (eg, a regulated grocery retailer, supplier, or other retailer) and might be reluctant to report it for fear of negative consequences or reprisals (such as being delisted from a retail store).
The Commerce Commission’s Anonymous Reporting Tool provides a secure channel to be able to report information without disclosing your personal information.
Learn more about our anonymous reporting tool open_in_newand how to report a concern.