Wow, $4.25 to the £!Originally Posted by Super_BQ
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Wow, $4.25 to the £!
Yorkshire Ambassador to New Zealand
I assume he then went off to be an accountant at Enron....
Senior Member
I'm very grateful being in NZ. Things could be A LOT worse. But you're right NZ is a small population and Australia isn't land locked together to NZ. What I argue is that it doesn't have to be that way for NZ. These major Australian groups don't need to bleed NZ dry by profiteering.And perhaps we ought to be grateful, as if everything was so much better in all walks of life in NZ then the big appeal to a lot of us, the lack of population density wouldn't stay that way long
Sorry 1.5 would be the accurate figure.Wow, $4.25 to the £!
http://fx.sauder.ubc.ca/cgi/fxplot?b...g&a=lin&m=0&x=
But you guys can joke along. The point being is the exchange rate was high back then and that's what made them move.
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To be fair to the Aussies, the largest chunk (57%) of the NZ supermarket business belongs to the NZ-owned Foodstuffs co-operative (New World, Pak N Save, Four Square). So it's really mainly those Kiwis bleeding us dry by profiteering. The problem is that it's a duopoly, not where the ownership lies.
Senior Member
They're public companies with shares on the stock exchange, the goal of the CEO (the western definition) is to increase shareholder wealth regardless of who they are and how often ownership change hands. The critical problem is NZ is a small country. Like a small business, the bigger competitor business usually comes along and buys them out... or puts them out of business.So it's really mainly those Kiwis bleeding us dry by profiteering. The problem is that it's a duopoly, not where the ownership lies.
Great example is how The Warehouse tried to enter into the Australian market as the Red Shed. That venture ended up being a major flop costing shareholders I think (but don't quote me on this) $100 Million. So there are few kiwis business that can act big and powerful abroad, it's more often the case where some overseas foreign company walking in and taking over.
But what i've seen here in Canada could apply to NZ in the area of food (oddly enough). Of course all the major clothing retailers in Canada have closed up or have been taken over. The last to be sold out to the US was The Hudson Bay Co. Yep, a Canadian icon store and it still couldn't compete. Remember, Canada is like 1/10th the population of the US so how can they compete? With 1 exception.. Superstore (Loblaws). Even Walmart has a tough time competing with this megafood chain. It all lies in getting low prices by drilling down the suppliers. Like in a recent mail flyer from Superstore I saw 2 page ad showing A/B comparison of products. Coca Cola 2L bottle vs PC Brand Cola 79¢ (Save 15%). PC Brand is like a no name store brand. Heinz Ketchup vs PC tomato ketchup $2 (Save 30%). The page was presented in a way in that you were a fool to buy a name brand because the savings was so great. Both items photoed in left / right presentation. What I find funny is Superstore sells these namebrands on the same shelf. Can you imagine what the reps or suppliers are thinking? Trying to present their product as being too overpriced against the generic brand. What happens is their stuff don't sell and Superstore buyers go back to say CocoCola and say, you're product is too expensive, if you want the volume to move, it better have a lower price.
Some weeks ago I remember a taste test done in the store. The person was serving chips and was asking customers if they could tell the difference between Heinz Ketchup vs PC brand ketchup. Half of the time customers guessed wrong which meant it didn't matter if they bought the cheaper PC brand ketchup. Even myself I guess wrong. This is to show that just because it's PC Brand, it doesn't mean that it's inferior or 'cheaply' made.
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I see Justin Marshall (ex-All Black scrum half - therefore mouthy) is complaining about "rip-off NZ" in the Herald today as well. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10659963
He reckons they spend $400-$500 a week on groceries for a family of five! I wonder what he buys. We spend around $250 a week for a family of four, and that's including stuff like organic chicken and a couple of bottles of wine, all bought in Devonport New World, reputedly the most expensive supermarket in Auckland. I reckon by buying fruit & veg from an indepedent shop and doing the rest at Pak n Save I could get down to $200 without much difficulty.
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