Mike Hosking’s Free Market Take Doesn’t Survive Contact with Reality
New Zealand’s supermarket duopoly isn’t a market failure — it’s a system designed to shut out challengers. With public pressure rising and the right players already in the wings, will we finally get a third player at scale? Mike Hosking’s line — “If there was money to be made, someone would’ve entered the market by now” — might sound tidy on air, but it collapses under even basic scrutiny. What he’s ignoring (or deliberately sidestepping) is that market entry isn’t just about demand or margins. It’s about whether new entrants can access the playing field at all. The issue in New Zealand isn’t a lack of consumer appetite for alternatives — it’s that Foodstuffs and Woolworths have a structural stranglehold on the entire grocery ecosystem. Supply Chains The duopoly secures the best wholesale deals — and wields its procurement muscle to discourage suppliers from working with competitors. Suppliers have reported being punished, delisted, or squeezed out for offering equal or better terms to...