Q+A with Jack Tame Supermarket boss hits back at 'populist' grocery break-up policies
Oct 3, 2026
Chris Quin, chief executive of Foodstuffs North Island, defends the supermarket cooperative amid intense political scrutiny. He discusses soaring food costs, supermarket profits, competition from New World and Pak’nSave, and proposals to break up the sector. Quin also addresses Foodstuffs’ anticompetitive history, warnings from business leaders, and the risks of forcing structural change.
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What A Supermarket Dollar Actually Covers
- Foodstuffs says supermarket profit is a small component of food prices, not the main inflation driver.
- Quin allocates each dollar as 66.5 cents supplier cost, 13 cents GST, 16.9 cents operations, and 3.6 cents profit.
Why Quin Rejects The Excess Profit Claim
- Chris Quin rejects the Commerce Commission’s excess-profit framing, citing a 2.3% total return across Foodstuffs and Woolworths.
- He argues attacking supermarket profit cannot substantially reduce prices when supplier, tax, and operating costs dominate.
A New Store Took A Quarter Of Trade
- New World Howick lost 25% of its trade when nearby PAK’nSAVE Highland Park opened.
- Quin uses the example to show intense competition already exists between stores inside Foodstuffs’ cooperative.