The spotlight is on shrinkflation – when a product becomes smaller but the price remains the same – after a damning inquiry into Australia’s supermarkets raised the issue.
It’s led to calls for supermarkets to be more transparent on shrinkflation in New Zealand.
Consumer NZ chief executive officer Jon Duffy said a notice on the shelf saying a product is smaller would help customers.
“Just so that consumers coming to that product are aware that they perhaps should be looking at a competing product because they might be getting a better deal.”
Stats NZ measures shrinkflation when it looks at prices – and has noticed it in New Zealand largely in chocolate, biscuits, chips and eggs.
“If one goes from 100 grams down to 90 grams and the price may have stayed the same, actually that would be an increase in price for the consumer because they’re not getting the same amount of chocolate for that price,” said Stats NZ prices and deflators unit manager Nicola Growden.
Australia is seen as one of the most profitable places in the world to open a supermarket.
The two major chains, Coles and Woolworths, do face limited competition from Aldi, which has a 9% share of the market.
“The report also suggests the big two may have been playing tag team rather than a tug of war which looks a little too cosy,” said Australian MP Andrew Leigh.
In New Zealand, the Government has made decisions about the next step in paving the way for a third supermarket to open.
While a handful of people have expressed interest in setting up a third supermarket to Finance Minister Nicola Willis, barriers remain.
Cabinet has now made decisions about how to break those barriers down, which will be revealed to the Government within the next week.
