Chris Quin: Foodstuffs Managing Director on food prices, being the target of most political parties
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What do the latest grocery basket data reveal about food price trends in New Zealand?
Irony of myronies, after a week of various political parties making supermarkets a major part of the election campaign, we actually got some real data. Comparable grocery basket rose 1.5% in the year to August. Food overall from stats at 1.9, so usual papery, kiwi fruit, for example, up 52%, honey's up 25%. But then again, lettuce, broccoli, eggs, butter, they're all falling in price. Anyway, Chris Quinn, Foodstuff's New Zealand Managing Director, is back with us. Chris, very good morning to you. Good morning, Mike. Sorry about the warriors. Yeah, a bit of a shame, eh? Your basket versus the Stats food number, without boring us, just explain what the difference is.
How does Foodstuffs’ own price performance compare with the national Stats food index?
So the difference is the Stats number is all grocery retail and all food retail. Our number is the foodstuffs family-owned stores and what happened in those. So that's the difference,
and it was
less.
Do you think people get this, or has this become now too political and it's a lost cause?
I think consumers get it because they're the ones who see retail 4 million times a week and they see price. And I think, you know, the numbers that matter are total inflation in New Zealand, consumer inflation was 4%, overall food 1.9, our stores managed to hold to 1.5, and what we pay suppliers for the products went up 2.9%. So what we're trying to do is be as productive as we possibly can and with as much certainty as we can work on doing the best we can on value for
consumers. Those costs up at 2.9%, even though it's more than you'd want to pay, and presumably somebody's paying the difference there between your 1.5 and 2.9, that's actually not bad all things considered, is it?
No, it's not. You look at what's happened to food price.
Why do consumers still see rising food costs despite Foodstuffs’ modest price increases?
So, you know, there's been inflation right across the board post-COVID. Fuel prices, everyone knows that because they see that on every pylon. You know, weak economy, very low New Zealand dollar. We're down to nearly 80 cents Australian. And we are a country that has GST across the board in a simple system, but that is an important part of comparing food prices.
Yeah, you make a very good point about the dollar. Anything you import, which is a lot of stuff, that's imported inflation, isn't
it?
That's right.
And, you know, the numbers at the top in terms of what shows up for customers in store in terms of what's happening to price, it is good that it's below 2% and well below. But it has still been the last five years, there is no doubt there has been inflation impact across the board on food price.
What impact do the New Zealand dollar, GST and import inflation have on supermarket prices?
Do you admit defeat, given the politics of all? I mean, you've got pretty much every party bar act wanting to blow you up now.
Look, we don't ever defeat. What we want to do is work on the fact that our customers need us to be working on value. They need the service and experience we offer. The observation we make is from what we can see so far, everybody is working on 3.6 cents, which is our profit in the retail dollar, to try and fix food prices. And that feels like a pretty complicated and hard thing to do inside the very smallest part of what makes up food price.
Yeah. Well, if you had to, this is an impossible question to answer, but I'll give it a crack. If you had to take the Nats Comcom versus Labour's busting up the wholesalers, which would you take?
How are political proposals—from a wholesale‑retail split to a state‑owned grocery chain—likely to affect food prices?
I don't think I'd take either. The busting up of a New Zealand business that's family owned in 530 franchises is As far as we can see, ads cost. It absolutely has no guarantee of reducing price. The numbers seem to suggest that price would reduce way more than our current profit. And the wholesale suggestions, they were not recommended in the Commerce Commission's own report back in 22. So neither of them seem to achieve what is required for our consumers. It's amazing times, aren't you?
Appreciate it. Chris Quinn, who is the Foodstuffs New Zealand Managing Director.
Why does Foodstuffs argue that breaking up family‑owned franchises won’t solve price pressures?
I talked to a number of people. I happen to know a number of people who are what you would loosely call franchisees. And they are particularly national, Labour less so because of who Labour are, but national especially.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What do the latest grocery basket data reveal about food price trends in New Zealand?
0:00–0:35
2
How does Foodstuffs’ own price performance compare with the national Stats food index?
0:35–1:36
3
Why do consumers still see rising food costs despite Foodstuffs’ modest price increases?
1:36–2:17
4
What impact do the New Zealand dollar, GST and import inflation have on supermarket prices?
2:17–3:04
5
How are political proposals—from a wholesale‑retail split to a state‑owned grocery chain—likely to affect food prices?
3:04–3:36
6
Why does Foodstuffs argue that breaking up family‑owned franchises won’t solve price pressures?
3:36–4:48
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