Greens Unveil Plan for Publicly Owned Supermarket Chain KiwiMart

The Green Party of New Zealand has unveiled a plan to establish a publicly owned supermarket chain called KiwiMart, aiming to increase affordability for consumers and reduce prices. The proposal involves breaking up the duopoly between Foodstuffs and Woolworths, with the two companies required to divest at least 120 stores and distribution centres.

The Green Party estimates that acquiring and capitalizing these supermarkets would cost around $2.8 billion, broken down into $1.3 billion for acquisition and $1.5 billion for capitalization. The party aims to establish KiwiMart as a self-sustaining and commercially viable competitor in the grocery market.

The Green Party's food and grocery policy also includes proposals to extend the Consumer Data Right framework to the supermarket sector, allowing consumers to share their loyalty data with other supermarkets and trusted price comparison tools. Additionally, the party wants to give consumers greater rights to choose what data supermarkets can collect about their shopping habits.

The Green Party's reforms aim to put the Commerce Commission in a stronger position to enforce competition not just in the grocery sector but across the whole economy. The party also proposes banning price gouging at supermarkets through a Bill, raising funding for the Commerce Commission, and increasing the maximum penalties available under the Commerce Act.