This is edition 2026/100 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Hi all,
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. The Supermarket duopoly still rules
Bryce Edwards
- 🛒 The Commerce Commission’s latest grocery report finds the supermarket duopoly still controls 82% of the market, unchanged since 2022, confirming a “broken market.”
- 📊 Despite years of scrutiny, competition hasn’t improved, with regulators noting “little observable change” and grocery prices rising 4.6% over the past year.
- 😐 Officials, including grocery head Alice Hume, describe the situation as “disappointing,” while supermarkets remain highly profitable by global standards.
- 🔁 Multiple reforms—new laws, a Grocery Commissioner, and attempts to attract competitors—have failed to reduce market concentration.
- 🕰️ Authorities argue reforms need more time, but critics say this signals inaction rather than real change.
- 🏛️ Politicians have debated supermarket reform for over a decade, yet no meaningful fix has been implemented, even amid a cost-of-living crisis.
- 🌹 The political left, particularly Labour, has largely avoided strong action, offering criticism but no concrete policy to break up the duopoly.
- 🌱 The Greens have also remained largely silent, leaving a gap on an issue tied to inequality and corporate power.
- 📢 Populist parties like New Zealand First and The Opportunities Party are stepping in, campaigning to break up the duopoly and capture voter frustration.
- 🔄 Labour’s reluctance is framed as structural, tied to close relationships with supermarket lobbyists and a “revolving door” between politics and industry.
- 🧑💼 Figures like Andrew Kirton—a former senior Labour insider now working for Woolworths—highlight deep connections between the party and the sector.
- 🤝 Similar links extend across politics, including figures connected to both Labour and National, suggesting bipartisan entanglement with supermarket interests.
- ⚖️ As a result, the party most expected to challenge corporate power is seen as unable to credibly lead reform, leaving voters without a clear champion on grocery prices.
