NZ supermarket words, explained plainly
Plain meanings for the words in the NZ supermarket debate: Grocery Commissioner, GICA, the Supply Code, wholesale access, banner, co-op, structural separation and more.
What this guide covers
The supermarket debate uses a lot of jargon. A banner is a store brand. A co-op is a business owned by its members. The Grocery Industry Competition Act 2023 is the law that regulates the big grocery groups, and the Grocery Supply Code sets rules for how they treat suppliers. Each word below has a one-line meaning and a source.
The law and the regulator
Commerce Commission (ComCom): New Zealand's competition regulator. It runs the grocery rules, publishes the annual grocery report and takes cases to court [1].
Grocery Industry Competition Act 2023 (GICA): the law that regulates the big grocery groups. It set up the Grocery Supply Code, the wholesale rules and the Grocery Commissioner [1].
Grocery Commissioner: a commissioner inside the Commerce Commission who leads its grocery work. Pierre van Heerden holds the role, 13 July 2023 to 11 July 2028 [2]. A bill before Parliament would phase the role out from 1 July 2027; it is not law as at 9 November 2026 [3].
Market study: an in-depth Commission review of a whole market. Its grocery market study, published on 8 March 2022, found competition was not working well for consumers [4].
Unit pricing: showing the price per kilogram, litre or similar, so you can compare pack sizes. Required in stores since 31 August 2024 and online since 31 August 2025 [5].
Grocery Supply Code: rules for how the big groups deal with their suppliers, including fair conduct and clear terms. The 2025 version came into force on 1 May 2026 [6].
Regulated grocery retailer: the law's name for the three big groups: Foodstuffs North Island, Foodstuffs South Island and Woolworths New Zealand [7].
Wholesale access (wholesale regime): the part of the law that lets other retailers ask the big groups for wholesale supply. Sales through it were about $22 million from July 2023 to August 2025 [7, printed pages 15 to 16].
Wholesale supply inquiry: the Commission's review of whether the wholesale rules work. It closed on 7 July 2026 without recommending new rules "at this stage" [8].
Grocery dispute resolution scheme: a scheme run by the NZ Dispute Resolution Centre for disputes between suppliers or wholesale customers and the big groups [9].
Merger clearance: the Commission's approval for two businesses to combine. It declined clearance for the two Foodstuffs co-ops to merge on 1 October 2024 [10].
How the industry is set up
Banner: a store brand, such as PAK'nSAVE, New World or Four Square. One owner can run several banners [7].
Co-operative (co-op): a business owned by its members. Foodstuffs describes itself as two "Owner operated cooperatives" [11].
Owner-operator: a person who owns and runs their own store inside the Foodstuffs co-op [12].
Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island: the two separate Foodstuffs co-ops. Each runs PAK'nSAVE, New World and Four Square in its island [11][7].
Wholesaler: a business that sells goods in bulk to shops. Gilmours (North Island) and Trents (South Island) are the Foodstuffs wholesalers [7].
Duopoly: a market with two main sellers. People use it for Foodstuffs and Woolworths. The Commission describes the market as highly concentrated: the three big groups held 82% of national grocery sales in 2025 [7, printed pages 19 to 20].
Rebates and promotional funding: money suppliers pay or discounts they give the big groups, for example for a special. It was about $6 billion (26% of the big groups' sales revenue) in the 2025 financial year [7, printed pages 1 and 36 to 37].
Distribution centre: a large warehouse that receives goods from suppliers and sends them out to stores.
Restraint of trade: a contract term that limits who a business can deal with. Labour promised to free small grocers such as Four Square operators from these [13].
Words from the break-up debate
Structural separation: splitting one business into separately owned parts. The Opportunity Party wants the Commission to have power to "force structural separation" [14].
Splitting Foodstuffs by brand: putting PAK'nSAVE in one nationwide business and New World with Four Square in another. National and NZ First promised versions of this [15][16].
Operational separation (a firewall): keeping one part of a business at arm's length without selling it. Labour proposed this for the big groups' wholesale arms [13].
KiwiMart: the Green Party's plan for a publicly owned supermarket chain of at least 120 stores, costed at $2.8 billion [17].
Price gouging (excessive pricing): charging prices well above cost or above what competition would allow. Labour and the Greens promised to ban it [18][17].
Cost-benefit analysis: a study that adds up what a change would cost and what it would give back. The government's study of a Foodstuffs split was done by Sense Partners [19].
Select committee: a group of MPs who study a bill. Anyone can send a written submission when it asks for them.
Every party plan above is a promise, not law, as at 9 November 2026.
The steps
Find the word you met in the news.
Read the one-line meaning.
Open the source if you want the official wording.
What is the Grocery Commissioner?
A commissioner inside the Commerce Commission who leads its grocery work under the Grocery Industry Competition Act 2023. A bill before Parliament would phase the role out from 1 July 2027, but it is not law yet.
What is GICA?
The Grocery Industry Competition Act 2023. It regulates the big grocery groups and set up the Grocery Supply Code, the wholesale rules and the Grocery Commissioner.
What is a banner in a supermarket?
A store brand, such as PAK'nSAVE, New World or Four Square. One owner, such as a Foodstuffs co-op, can run several banners.
What does structural separation mean?
Splitting one business into separately owned parts. In the NZ debate it usually means splitting Foodstuffs by brand.
Sources, checked 9 November 2026
[1] Commerce Commission, Grocery (regulated industries page), checked 9 November 2026: https://www.comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/grocery/
[2] New Zealand Gazette, appointment of the Grocery Commissioner, 12 July 2023: https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2023-go3127
[3] New Zealand Legislation, Commerce (Commerce Commission Reform) Amendment Bill (as reported from select committee), checked 9 November 2026: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2026/250/en/latest/
[4] Commerce Commission, Market study into the retail grocery sector (project page), final report 8 March 2022: https://www.comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/projects/market-study-into-retail-grocery-sector
[5] New Zealand Legislation, Consumer Information Standards (Unit Pricing for Grocery Products) Regulations 2023, checked 9 November 2026: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2023/0185/latest/whole.html
[6] Commerce Commission, Grocery Supply Code page, checked 8 November 2026: https://www.comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/grocery/grocery-supply-code/
[7] Commerce Commission, Annual Grocery Report 2025 (PDF), published 2 June 2026: https://www.comcom.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Annual-Grocery-Report-2025-2-June-2026.pdf
[8] Commerce Commission, Wholesale Supply Inquiry project page (closure 7 July 2026), checked 8 November 2026: https://www.comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/projects/wholesale-supply-inquiry2/
[9] NZ Dispute Resolution Centre, Grocery Industry Dispute Resolution Scheme, checked 9 November 2026: https://nzdrc.co.nz/expertise/grocery-industry-dispute-resolution-scheme/
[10] Commerce Commission, Commerce Commission declines clearance for the proposed Foodstuffs merger, 1 October 2024: https://comcom.govt.nz/news-and-media/media-releases/2024/commerce-commission-declines-clearance-for-the-proposed-foodstuffs-merger
[11] Foodstuffs, FAQs, checked 9 November 2026: https://www.foodstuffs.co.nz/who-we-are/faqs
[12] Foodstuffs, Careers: Becoming an Owner, checked 9 November 2026: https://www.foodstuffs.co.nz/working-at-foodies/becoming-an-owner
[13] 1News, It's breakup season: Labour, National clash on tearing up grocery duopoly, 20 September 2026: https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/09/20/labour-proposes-splitting-foodstuffs-woolworths-from-wholesale-arms/
[14] Opportunity Party, Our bottom lines for 2026 (page undated), checked 9 November 2026: https://www.opportunity.org.nz/bottom_lines
[15] National Party, National to pursue separation of Foodstuffs, 16 September 2026: https://www.national.org.nz/news/260916-nicolawillis
[16] NZ First, NZ First will break up the supermarket duopoly (release via Scoop), 19 April 2026: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2604/S00094/nz-first-campaign-policy-announcement-nz-first-will-break-up-the-supermarket-duopoly-bring-food-prices-down-for-kiwis.htm
[17] Green Party, Affordable food for all of us (policy PDF), September 2026: https://www.greens.org.nz/affordable_food_full_policy
[18] Labour Party, Banning price gouging (page undated), checked 9 November 2026: https://www.labour.org.nz/banning-price-gouging
[19] MBIE, Supermarket cost benefit analysis June 2026 (Sense Partners, PDF), released 16 September 2026: https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/32518-supermarket-cost-benefit-analysis-june-2026-pdf