Latest / Best of Business / Matthew Lane: Night 'n Day general manager on the Commerce Commission threatening a crackdown on supermarkets

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Matthew Lane: Night 'n Day general manager on the Commerce Commission threatening a crackdown on supermarkets · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from news Talks'd be follow
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  Speaker 2: Onto another subject, the Commerce Commission fired another shot across
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  Speaker 2: the supermarket youopoly bows. The ComCom says that the supermarkets
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  Speaker 2: are charging suppliers for things like stocking shelves and this
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  Speaker 2: has got to stop now. Matthew Lane is Night and
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  Speaker 2: Day General manager. He's read the ComCom reporting is with us. Now,
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  Speaker 2: how math you afternoon, Heather? Is that? Is that what's
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  Speaker 2: going on and the supplies being charged for stocking shelves.
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  Speaker 3: There is certainly a practice that does happen in the
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  Speaker 3: surf market industry, but what's most encouraging for us is
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  Speaker 3: that the comcoms cracking down on the fact that other
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  Speaker 3: retailers are being charged more for their wholesale than what
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  Speaker 3: are the surfermarkets are actually retailing the same products for
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  Speaker 3: is it?
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  Speaker 2: Give me an example.
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  Speaker 3: So example is as if we buy a bag of
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  Speaker 3: flour wholesale, often could be three dollars for us to
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  Speaker 3: buy for them, it's three dollars to buy as well,
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  Speaker 3: but then supply gives them back another dollar. So the
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  Speaker 3: effect of cost prices two dollars whereas ours is three dollars.
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  Speaker 2: Why are they How does this rebate thing work? Why
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  Speaker 2: would a supply give them a rebate?
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  Speaker 3: It's to target the investment into the players with the
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  Speaker 3: major dominance. So given the fact they've got volume in
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  Speaker 3: the position in the market, they end up being looked
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  Speaker 3: after a bit more. But then also the surf markets
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  Speaker 3: probably demanded to make sure they can't lose market share
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  Speaker 3: to any other.
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  Speaker 2: Restail So does it give the serve the supply gives
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  Speaker 2: them a rebate, Maybe give them prominence on the shelf
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  Speaker 2: or something like that.
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  Speaker 3: Could be, or even just reduce the cost price versus
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  Speaker 3: what everyone assek can buy if in the market.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, now what is the Commerce Commission going to do
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  Speaker 2: about it? If this stuff doesn't stop?
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  Speaker 3: So they have sent a shot across the bower to
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  Speaker 3: the supermarkets at the moment it's acknowledged they receive five
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  Speaker 3: billion dollars in these rebates, that that investment hasn't passed
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  Speaker 3: on to other retailers trying to source those products. The
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  Speaker 3: surf markets were given a clear mandate set up whole fail.
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  Speaker 3: They have set it up, but it's not competitive and
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  Speaker 3: unfortunately it's probably cheap of for me to go with
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  Speaker 3: the shopping trolley around pattern save what it is.
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  Speaker 2: What I'm trying to get to is that the commers
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  Speaker 2: admissions doing nothing about it but talking right, it's just
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  Speaker 2: jaw boning. How much of this jaw boning do we
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  Speaker 2: have to sit through before they actually do something?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we'd seeing a light to see action. If we
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  Speaker 3: could take a sledge hammer to it rather than taking
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  Speaker 3: it step by step. I think that would certainly create momentum.
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  Speaker 2: They've going getting frustrated.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely frustrating. The rules are high, but I guess when
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  Speaker 3: the market's been the way for twenty five years, you've
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  Speaker 3: probably become a bit more accustomed to it. Look, it's
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  Speaker 3: the strongest signals that we've had that change is coming.
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  Speaker 3: We're trusting if that change is coming. But you know,
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  Speaker 3: I think there's the strongest signals so far that change
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  Speaker 3: will come. The balls in the supermarket caught to do
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  Speaker 3: it voluntarily and if not, once again, the Comics Commission
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  Speaker 3: WI step.
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  Speaker 2: Back and when we're getting signals that change is coming,
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  Speaker 2: When that change comes, what does it look like?
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  Speaker 3: So they've been given twelve months to pass on all
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  Speaker 3: those promotional discounts to other retailers, so that can lower
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  Speaker 3: their prices as well. They're also stating that the supermarkets
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  Speaker 3: have to provide their private labels through the whole salth
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  Speaker 3: so we can get access to the cheapest sugar in
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  Speaker 3: the market. The branded ones are more expensive. I if
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  Speaker 3: we can get access to their home brands, we can
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  Speaker 3: then pass the sugar.
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  Speaker 2: I think you must understanding my question, right. If we're
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  Speaker 2: getting all of these signals that change is coming and
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  Speaker 2: the Commas Commission, all the government are going to implement change,
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  Speaker 2: what does that change look like?
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  Speaker 3: The change looks like effectively lower cost to the contribute.
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  Speaker 2: But how do we get there?
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  Speaker 3: How do we get it? It's a good question. I
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  Speaker 3: think the pathway is out there, I don't know how
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  Speaker 3: we get there.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm starting to get really frustrated with this, are
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  Speaker 2: you not?
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  Speaker 3: Like?
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  Speaker 2: How long have we been talking about supermarkets? We were
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  Speaker 2: talking about supermarkets when Jacinda was still in there, and
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  Speaker 2: we're still talking about supermarkets and nothing's changed.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that is correct. So I've spent about four years
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  Speaker 3: and we're still in a similar possession to what we
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  Speaker 3: were when we embarked on it. So I do see
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  Speaker 3: you frustration. I'm certainly frustrated as well.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're probably more frustrated than I am. Matthew, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Matthew Lane, Night and Day General Manager.
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  Speaker 2: I just worry. Do you not worry? Well, I don't
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  Speaker 2: worry that much, but I just I just think that
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  Speaker 2: possibly the ComCom and the grocery Commissioner, and if Nikola
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  Speaker 2: doesn't watch out, the Finance minister as well, are going
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  Speaker 2: to turn into the boy who cried Wolf. You know
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  Speaker 2: the ones who are like, I'm yeah, you'll get it,
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  Speaker 2: or like the weak parent is like, don't do that,
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  Speaker 2: or I'm going to take that away from it. Oh yeah,
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  Speaker 2: don't do that. Don't do that, And all you get
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  Speaker 2: is don't do that. I'm going to take it away
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  Speaker 2: from you. But you never actually find out what the
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  Speaker 2: punishment is. Feel like we're in that little holding pattern
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  Speaker 2: at the moment.
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