Heather du Plessis-Allan: I'm hoping the next supermarket call might be more promising

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

There's a very big call on the supermarkets today - the Grocery Commissioner has accused them of ripping us off.

Now, a lot of people will probably agree with that and think - what of it?

But there's a difference between you or I feeling ripped off when you’re standing in front of the olive oil looking at a price of $30 and someone like the Grocery Commissioner saying it out loud on the radio.

It's a very big call - and for someone like him to do that, he's got to have the proof. And he reckons he does.

It's been two years since the last Government starting cracking down on supermarkets, but instead of things getting better, they're getting worse.

The margins that supermarkets are making off of us are going up, they're not paying their suppliers a hell of a lot more, but they're charging you and I a hell of a lot more. That's the opposite of what's supposed to happen.

Which is to say - that crackdown didn't work.

And that is no surprise to anyone with half a brain who was watching what the last Government did. The minister was David Clark - yes, the mountain-biker himself - and what he did to fix the grocery system was to set up the Grocery Commissioner, bring in a mandatory code of conduct, put in compulsory unit pricing and forced more transparent loyalty schemes.

Who thought that was going to make a difference? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell you that wasn't going to change anything. We said on this very show that that ain't gonna change nothing. And here we are - it didn't work.

Now I'm not pessimistic about this. Because out of all the things that David the bike rider did that might make a difference - he did set up the Grocery Commissioner.

And there is nothing like personal ambition and reputation to motivate someone.

And I get the feeling Pierre van Heerden might realise he needs to get this right for his own sake and his own reputation.

So I suspect that what comes next might be a bit more promising. And I'm taking heart from the strong language he’s used today.

But as always... time will tell.

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