National would split up Foodstuffs but only with ComCom approval

Author: Adam Pearse,
Publish Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2026, 10:23am

Vote 2026

National says it will pursue a structural separation of Foodstuffs to create “two genuinely competing nationwide grocery chains” if elected

However, the party says the policy is subject to Commerce Commission approval.

It comes as the Government has failed to attract a third supermarket franchise to New Zealand to address the Foodstuffs/Woolworths duopoly as the coalition seeks to address high grocery prices.

National leader Christopher Luxon and finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis are speaking to the announcement at 10.30am. A livestream will be played at the top of this article.

Foodstuffs, made up of two co-operatives named Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island which manage the country’s New World, PAK’nSAVE and Four Square stores, have previously admitted to sharing information and not meaningfully competing against each other in the same areas.

National’s policy intended to split the two and see New World and Four Square as one nationwide chain and PAK’nSAVE as another.

“Our initial view is that New World and PAK’nSAVE would compete harder on prices, specials and service if they were genuinely independent of each other,” Willis said.

“They currently sit within the same Foodstuffs structures. Separation would create three major nationwide grocery chains and put more pressure on supermarkets to win and keep customers.

The move would be subject to Commerce Commission approval, which would be facilitated by National amending the Grocery Industry Competition Act in its first 100 days in government to give the commission the ability to “develop and assess a detailed implementation plan and determine whether the separation can be delivered in a way that leaves consumers better off”.

Willis said the commission would be required to provide its assessment within six months and the party would legislate to split the entities if the commission recommended it.

Willis stressed National had a “very high bar for this kind of intervention” and would not pursue similar separation in any other sector.

“However, after years of reviews and incremental reform, it’s clear the status quo isn’t working. It’s time for change.”

She clarified no PAK’nSAVE, New World or Four Square owner would be forced to sell or rebrand.

It comes as Labour rushed forward its own announcement promising to outlaw price gouging if elected.

Labour was expected to unveil its own policy later this morning but has published it earlier than anticipated.

Labour’s policy would make it illegal for large companies with significant market power, such as supermarkets, to charge excessive prices for essential goods and services, or to pay unfairly low prices to suppliers.

The party also wanted to embolden the Commerce Commission to investigate price gouging and support consumer groups and suppliers to do the same.

Companies found to be price gouging would be forced to pay penalties and “hand back every dollar of excess profit”, Labour’s policy states.

New policies are coming thick and fast from political parties as they prepare for the election campaign, which will ramp up after the House rises next week.

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.