Food labelling rules in NZ

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richms

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#761987 13-Feb-2013 22:34

There are plenty of other retailers for veges and meat and fish which have (particually if you go to countdown) vastly better products at much better prices. The problem is they are not open late so anyone with a "job" cant really use them.

If the independant retailers and the asian supermarkets could get their act together with a couple of late nights each week it would be awesome. But they dont.

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mattwnz

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#761997 13-Feb-2013 23:07

Maybe in your area, but not in mine. We used to have about 3 or 4 fruit and vege shops down the main street. All have closed down over the last few years, and now the supermarket is the only place to buy fruit and veges conveniently, and they are very poor quality stuff, expensive, and deteriorates quickly. Otherwise you have to go to the growers direct, or farmers markets.
The small vege shops also didn't have the buying power of the large chains, so their stuff can be quite a bit more expensive. Hence why they closed down. The small shops are very expensive compared to the big chains for a lot of things.

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#762011 14-Feb-2013 00:15

we have a new world, pak n save, two countdowns, a nosh supermarket, couple of traditional butchers, an 'aussie butcher', dozens of fruit shops, a few Asian supermarkets, and a smattering of indian, Korean and other stores... all within 5-10 minutes drive from home... the butcher, Korean store and two fruit shops are in easy walking distance even.

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sbiddle

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#762026 14-Feb-2013 06:28

mattwnz:
sbiddle: While "average" can make this acceptable, the reason the issue is occuring is pure laziness on behalf of the store. Having been responsible for ensuring this very issue didn't occur in a past life I can tell you exactly why it occurs.

Stores have a PLU list of products that are loaded into their scales. Rather than using a specific PLU for this product the store has simply used a generic "95% fat free" PLU number for these sausages.

If you saw Campbell live last night, you will see that these companies make a lot of money in NZ,

Campbell Live "assumed stores make lots of money. They've now run two stories on supermarkets without so fuch as a single fact to back up and of their claims, and ran a price matching survey without any real scientific methodology.

Cambell Live also kept saying last night how much cheaper AU was, and only made a mere mention that unprocessed food excludes GST. Without knowing the exact mix in their basket it's a totally unfair comparison.

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#762196 14-Feb-2013 12:25

Saying things like that will get viewers, get people talking about the show and other things which are their goal. Seems like they are doing a damn good job with how many people I have heard talk about the story on supermarket pricing.

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sbiddle

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#762207 14-Feb-2013 12:35

Lots of things including bread, milk, cheese (in fact virtually all dairy products, many of which are made in NZ) and meat are all cheaper in Aussie. Some of this is the fact they're all GST excluse so it's an immediate 15% reduction over pricing in NZ before you factor in a ~20% currency difference.

Not everything is cheaper there however, there are plenty of products that are a lot more expensive. Many fruit and vegetables are significantly higher than NZ year round.

The biggest issue with food in NZ is that the pricing model is now the "Briscoes" model. Consumers expect big discounts, so manufacturers set everyday wholesale pricing that allows steep promotional discounting. What most people also don't understand is that most supermarket specials are scanback deals, where a rebate is paid back based on sales - the store isn't actually buying in stock at a cheaper price.

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TwoSeven

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#762237 14-Feb-2013 13:10

I think the point that was being made (at least how I understood it) from Cambell Live was that a duopoly tends to sell product at the maximum price the market is willing to pay and I would also add that they have a tendancy to buy product at the minimum price the producer is willing to accept. I would think that adding more competition would lead to vendors competing for the best produce and also to get the customer.

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mattwnz

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#762261 14-Feb-2013 13:37

sbiddle: The biggest issue with food in NZ is that the pricing model is now the "Briscoes" model. Consumers expect big discounts, so manufacturers set everyday wholesale pricing that allows steep promotional discounting. What most people also don't understand is that most supermarket specials are scanback deals, where a rebate is paid back based on sales - the store isn't actually buying in stock at a cheaper price.

Yes this model seems to be getting used by many retailers now as it gives the perception that they are getting a good discount. But if you go somewhere like Moore Wilson there everyday price can be lower than the discounted price of a retailer. The retailers normal pricing is often 30 percent above the normal pricing of retailers who don't sell this way. The thing is that it is successful. I know the owner of a small chain that moved to this model and they have regular sales and huge turnover in those sales.

I do take cambell live with a grain of salt. But as they said no one is looking into this on the government side, and the commerce commission has described it as a duopoly. Also many of the goods purchased weren't on special and I know that I can get many of the same goods cheaper if I shopped around and waited for specials. But I guess the point of the story was to show off the cuff purchases for common items.

But that doesn't escape the fact that food prices in NZ are too expensive. Friends from Europe have also commented how expensive food is here, even in cafes. OECD figures also don't lie.

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#762288 14-Feb-2013 13:56

TwoSeven: I think the point that was being made (at least how I understood it) from Cambell Live was that a duopoly tends to sell product at the maximum price the market is willing to pay and I would also add that they have a tendancy to buy product at the minimum price the producer is willing to accept. I would think that adding more competition would lead to vendors competing for the best produce and also to get the customer.

Competition between both chains in NZ is probably some of the most intense in the world. Clearly if you've never been involved in the industry this is extremely hard to comprehend but I can assure you it's the case.

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#762555 14-Feb-2013 18:32

I visited Moore and Wilson recently. They are very impressive in some segments. As an Aucklander I would like to see them give it a go here. Somwhere on the south border would work well for them.

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#762695 14-Feb-2013 23:43

mattwnz:
I do take cambell live with a grain of salt. But as they said no one is looking into this on the government side, and the commerce commission has described it as a duopoly. Also many of the goods purchased weren't on special and I know that I can get many of the same goods cheaper if I shopped around and waited for specials. But I guess the point of the story was to show off the cuff purchases for common items.

But that doesn't escape the fact that food prices in NZ are too expensive. Friends from Europe have also commented how expensive food is here, even in cafes. OECD figures also don't lie.

It must be nice to be in a city where you CAN shop around. In Palmerston North we are pretty much stuck with the duopoly. Worse still, the stocking decisions are made in their head offices and we regularly find that products we want to purchase aren't available here.
Pricing is not the same throughout the country - an item in Countdown in Auckland can be half the price we pay. I always go grocery shopping whenever I'm in Auckland or Wellington and stock up on things (like my favourite cakes of Whittakers chocolate that nobody here stocks) and we do regular shopping runs to Moore Wilson in Wellington. When you have to take a day trip to another city to buy groceries you know something isn't right.

At least Palmy still has a couple of good, independent butchers. For now. In time I expect they will also be gone. Hopefully, I've left before then.

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