The Government is putting in place rules that will make it easier for consumers to compare the price of grocery products at the supermarket, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Dr David Clark announced today.
“These new rules will require supermarkets, and other large grocery retailers, to clearly and consistently display unit pricing – such as the price of a product per kilogram or litre. The Commerce Commission’s market study found while the major grocery retailers display unit pricing for many products they offer, it is not consistently used or displayed,” David Clark said.
“Our work on unit pricing will help shoppers to compare the prices of similar products and choose the best deal for their needs. It’s particularly helpful where products are sold in different sized packaging and by different brands.
“We want to make it as easy as possible for Kiwis to use unit pricing in their weekly shop.
“At a time where global factors continue to drive up the cost of living around the world, and high grocery prices are making it hard for New Zealanders right now – our work around unit pricing will mean shoppers can gauge whether something is good bang for buck.
“Supermarkets have been fleecing hard-working kiwis for too long – their excess profits of more than $1 million a day cannot be justified.”
Under this new standard, unit pricing will be mandatory for grocery products sold in grocery stores with a floorspace above 1,000 square metres. It will also be required in online grocery stores and in some forms of advertising.
“The new rules will mean that around 90 percent of the retail grocery market will need to display prominent, legible unit pricing that is easy for consumers to use. This includes our major grocery retailers, along with new entrants and online retailers, if the thresholds are met. Stores with a smaller footprint, such as dairies, specialist retailers, and international supermarkets, will be excluded from the standard – unless they choose to comply voluntarily.
“Along with helping shoppers to make informed decisions about what they buy, this new standard for unit pricing will also support inter-brand competition and encourage grocery retailers to compete on metrics such as price.”
In early 2023, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is expected to consult on technical details of the unit pricing standard to ensure it works effectively in practice.
Its the supermarkets,the oil companies,Vladimir Putin and climate change that cause the economic mess,not money printing and govt mismanagement.If you dont think that you are a tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist
Another cheap game by Jabby’s minions. Why cant a simpe rule to be imposed. Excessive mark ups can be stopped if the real purchase price to be displayed. Buy for a dollar and sell for five dollars or more is the norm for retailors. There is current law to stop excessive markups; it can even be 1000 times and nothing can be done. You may have noticed deliberate TradeMe pricing in tens of thousands of dollars for a cheap item and Trademe cannot legally stop this ridicule.
Kiwis are paying aboutt three times more for groceries compared to Brits. Easy to check on YouTube with “grocery haul UK” search phrase.
Jabby and her minions also appease the Supermarket duopoly for high mark up prices. They dont like it to be known that NZ cheese and butter sell for prices way lower sometimes half the price in Australia. They manufacture all sorts of excuses like its a different market, exchange rates, transport, logistics, import agreements, instead of saying just plain old rippoff.
Prices are always high in socialist countries .Government micro-managing every facet of not just our lives but also the economy through regulation after regulation,fees and taxes.Shortages money printing and fake crisis’ are all part of any totalitarian state.Welcome to the Sheeples Republic of Aotearoa folks