Two Foodstuffs supermarkets plead guilty to 18 misleading pricing charges

That takes the total number of guilty pleas to 18: 10 for Pak’nSave Silverdale in Auckland, and 8 for Pak’nSave Mill St in Hamilton.

In June, the two Foodstuffs-owned supermarkets pleaded guilty to 11 charges laid by the Commerce Commission over alleged breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

On Wednesday in the Auckland District Court, the supermarkets entered guilty pleas against 7 more charges.

The maximum penalty for each breach is $600,000.

Both supermarkets will be sentenced on 4 November.

What Pak'nSave Silverdale pleaded guilty to

In June, Pak'nSave Silverdale pleaded guilty to 7 charges relating to the incorrect pricing of Tablelands Reduced Cholesterol spread, lemons, red grapes, muffins, as well as two charges of offering "Extra Low" promotional pricing on Raro beverages.

On Wednesday, the same supermarket pleaded guilty to 3 more charges.

Those are:

• advertising Pams Value white sliced bread at $1.15 but charging customers $1.19 between 17 November and 2 December, 2022.

• charging customers a higher price than the displayed price on certain items between 1 October 2022 and 23 September 2024, as recorded in a handwritten pricing error book and electronic complaints form.

• charging customers a higher price than the displayed price on certain items between 6 June 2024 and 21 September 2024, as recorded in an electronic complaints form.

What Pak'nSave Mill St pleaded guilty to

In June, Pak’nSave Mill St pleaded guilty to 4 charges relating to the incorrect pricing and specials relating to Tuffy paper towels, as well as its usage of “extra low” promotions on Farrah’s wraps and Leggo’s pasta sauce.

On Wednesday, the supermarket pleaded guilty to 4 more charges. Those are:

• advertising Paseo Ultra Soft 3ply tissues for $2 and charging customers $3 between 27 February and March 1 2023;

• displaying a price of $2 for Morning Fresh 400mL dishwashing liquid but charging customers $3 over the same period;

• charging customers in “a number of instances” higher prices than the displayed price between 5 June and 27 August, 2024;

• promoting Vogel’s sandwich bread at “extra low” prices when it was more expensive than it had been in the past 2 years.

For both supermarkets, all offences occurred between 2021 and 2024.

What Consumer NZ thinks

While supermarket pricing errors may seem insignificant on a case-by-case basis, Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy says they become significant when multiplied across the wider population.

“Supermarkets have been aware of this problem for years but seem unwilling to fix it. On the flip side, they have been doing plenty of investing in marketing and loss prevention.”

Recent Consumer research found that 62% of supermarket customers noticed pricing inaccuracies while shopping in the past year.

Duffy said it was encouraging to see the Commerce Commission taking its highest level of enforcement action but warned the fines may not go far enough to prevent further misconduct.

"While we’re pleased that these cases are being prosecuted in court, and there may be more on the way, we’re concerned that the financial penalties under the current Fair Trading Act are not enough to deter the supermarkets from repeating this type of behaviour."