Wholesale Supply Inquiry

The Grocery Industry Competition Act (the Act) establishes a 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. To date, access to products for new or competing retailers has not improved sufficiently, either through RGRs’ wholesale offerings or direct supply. 

In its current form, the wholesale supply regime is unlikely to be promoting the purpose of Part 3 of the Act. On 4 September 2024 we commenced an Inquiry under section 56 of the Act, which enables us to consider if additional regulation is needed. 

On 5 June 2025 we published our Preliminary Findings Paper which found that:  

• There are issues with wholesale supply regarding price, range, access and other issues. Fundamentally, promotional funding paid by suppliers to the RGRs is make it difficult for wholesale prices to enable competitive with retail prices. 
• The RGR wholesale supply regime is not having a material impact at present. 
• Behaviour change is required by RGRs and suppliers to enable effective wholesale supply. 
• Our preliminary view is that we likely have enough evidence to meet the threshold required by the Act to impose or recommend additional regulation. 
• The least cost alternative to additional regulation is for the parties to change their behaviour by changing their wholesale offerings to meet our expectations, especially regarding competitive pricing and comprehensive range. 

Industry participants have a period to enact change 

Suppliers and RGRs have an opportunity to change their behaviour to meet our expectations. Our view is that industry-led behaviour change is the quickest and most efficient way to address wholesale supply issues without needing to impose additional regulation. 

To allow time for industry to enact these changes our Preliminary Findings Paper extended the timeframes of the Inquiry. We need to see evidence that industry participants are making changes to improve wholesale supply in the coming months.   

We will be monitoring progress closely. The extent to which industry take ownership and drive meaningful change will contribute to our assessment of whether further intervention is needed.   

Our expectations of industry participants 

The Grocery Commissioner published an open letter to the industry on 10 November 2025 outlining the importance of meeting our expectations, explaining how we will engage with industry, and how we will monitor progress. 

Stronger regulatory options 

We will continue to consider whether additional regulatory intervention in the wholesale market is necessary or desirable. The degree to which industry can make progress to meet our expectations will contribute to our assessment of whether further regulation is needed. Earlier in our Inquiry we published a factsheet outlining the regulatory options that will be considered. 

We want to hear from you

We are accepting expressions of interest to participate in workshops, one-to-one conversations and targeted surveys.  

We want to engage directly with you to discuss our expectations and your role in shaping the future of New Zealand’s wholesale grocery market. We remain committed to fostering a fair, efficient, and competitive market and trust you share that commitment.