Information for regulated grocery retailers

As the grocery industry regulator, our role includes monitoring competition and efficiency in the grocery industry, promoting transparency, carrying out reviews, inquiries and studies, making information available and enforcing the law.

We also have specific responsibilities for the Grocery Wholesale Supply regime and the Grocery Supply Code of Conduct.

Our broader regulatory role also means that we oversee the Commerce Act and the Fair Trading Act, which cover all businesses in New Zealand, including grocery retailers.

Grocery Supply Code

The Grocery Supply Code has been in force since 28 September 2023. It sets out rules for the conduct of regulated grocery retailers (RGRs) Foodstuffs North Island, Foodstuffs South Island and Woolworths New Zealand when dealing with grocery suppliers.

The Grocery Supply Code’s purpose is to promote competition and efficiency in the grocery industry by:

• promoting fair conduct, and prohibiting unfair conduct
• promoting transparency and certainty about the terms of agreements
• contributing to a trading environment that supports competition, confident participants and a diverse range of suppliers in the grocery industry.

If you had an agreement with a retailer in place prior to the Code coming into force that doesn’t comply with the provisions, the retailer had a grace period until 28 March 2024 to offer you amendments.

After 28 March 2024 the provisions of the Code apply irrespective of what is in the agreement.

The Commission’s responsibilities for the Grocery Supply Code include:

• monitoring compliance
• recommending whether more retailers should be regulated by the Supply Code
• reviewing and reporting on how well the Supply Code is working and recommending any changes to it
• making determinations to impose rules or allow exemptions from certain rules.

The Commission has published a factsheet that provides an overview of the Supply Code, as well as information on the Grocery Supply Code’s background, key features and where to get more information. We have also published a checklist which is designed to guide reviews of supply agreements against the provisions of the Code.

On 14 September, we published the Grocery Commissioner's open letter to the grocery sector – introduction of the Grocery Supply Code, setting our expectations about how you will meet your obligations and implement the Supply Code for the benefit of New Zealand consumers.