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Supermarkets are under fire again. \xa0

The Commerce Commission now says it will look into what might be dodgy pricing practices.\xa0

If past performance is anything to go by, expect them to find pretty much nothing when they report back.\xa0

And again, going on past performance, expect to see that report sometime around the early 2030s.\xa0

Consumer NZ has been asking for an investigation since August, I guess Comm Comm since then has been investigating whether it's got time to do an investigation.\xa0

After all, it's busy with...err...well...it's busy. Just busy.\xa0

Any road up, there probably is a case to answer.\xa0

But I wonder if the horse hasn't kind of bolted with the new labelling that\u2019s already on its way, and recognition on the part of the supermarkets that shelf tickets can and should be more standardised.\xa0

That way people can compare like with like and decide if they're getting a good deal or not.\xa0

It's actually information that's been there, on a lot of products for long enough if you have the time to look for it.\xa0

Now, some stuff you buy goes on so-called 'special' on a regular cycle and those deals are actually often driven by the manufacturers and suppliers.\xa0

So, if you have the time and the inclination and the desire to plan, you can take advantage of those deals by bulk buying when things are cheap, and not buying when they're not.\xa0

Have a bit of sport trying to beat the supermarkets at their own game, knowing all along that you'll never win.\xa0

End of the day, the thing is we all have to eat and for most of us, the main source of our food is the supermarket.\xa0

The duopoly knows this and rubs their hands with glee every time we go in. They're smart enough and tough enough businesspeople to know how to maximise their profits from our needs.\xa0

So, what's needed is not an expensive and long-winded report from the Commerce Commission, what's needed is more competition.\xa0 \xa0

We\u2019ve seen how tough it is to break into the market just from a couple that have tried, we've known that more competition is the answer for years now.\xa0

So, the question is: how do we get more competition into the market?\xa0

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