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Speaker 1: The Commerce Commission has delayed its decision on whether to

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Speaker 1: allow food Stuffs to merge its North and South Island operations. Again.

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Speaker 1: It was due to make a decision today, but now

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Speaker 1: it says it's extended its deadline to October. It's set

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Speaker 1: to outline problem areas with the mergers soon and then

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Speaker 1: food Stuffs and other interested parties will be able to

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Speaker 1: respond after that. Food Stuff's North Island's chief executive, Chris

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Speaker 1: Quinn is with me.

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Speaker 2: Now, Hey, Chris, evening, Heather, how are you arm well?

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Speaker 2: Thank you?

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Speaker 1: Were you expecting this many delays?

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Speaker 2: Look, when we started the process, we knew there could

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Speaker 2: be three stages, and this is the third stage, which

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Speaker 2: is a statement of unresolved issues. We expect to see

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Speaker 2: in about three and a half weeks or so. So

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Speaker 2: we knew this could happen, But we do remain one

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Speaker 2: hundred percent committed to this being absolutely the right thing

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Speaker 2: to do.

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Speaker 1: Have they communicated to you what the unresolved issues are?

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Speaker 2: No, not at this point. We believe we get that

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Speaker 2: sometime in the middle of July.

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Speaker 1: Are you starting to lose hope? I mean, this is

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Speaker 1: obviously a really gnarly one for them.

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Speaker 2: Look, we get that this has got huge exposure. There's

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Speaker 2: been a lot of conversation about this, and we understand

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Speaker 2: that with cost of living and all of the things

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Speaker 2: that affect New Zealand households, what we are really pleased

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Speaker 2: with is the last three months food price inflation has

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Speaker 2: been well below a percent. We think we've tackled the

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Speaker 2: issues that came because of weather and became because of

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Speaker 2: the global supply chain and the various cost issues from

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Speaker 2: our suppliers. So we're determined because the next thing we

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Speaker 2: can do for our customers to improve value and to

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Speaker 2: improve innovation and comparediveness for a New Zealand owned cooperative

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Speaker 2: is to make this merger happen and make us more

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Speaker 2: efficient and reduce our costs.

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Speaker 1: Do you think the suppliers have the ear of the

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Speaker 1: Communis Commission because your supplies are very worried about the Sunday.

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Speaker 2: Look. I talked to a lot of suppliers and I

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Speaker 2: don't find many that are very worried about this. I

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Speaker 2: see that there are anonymous reports in the media and

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Speaker 2: various stories. I talked to a lot of suppliers. We

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Speaker 2: literally every couple of weeks here from hundreds of them.

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Speaker 2: We're not hearing some of the same issues. We know

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Speaker 2: that this merger makes it easier for supplies to engage

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Speaker 2: with us to get to all of the customers nationally.

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Speaker 2: We will still be able to do a supplier working

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Speaker 2: with one local store owned by a local family that

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Speaker 2: will not go away at any point, and we think

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Speaker 2: that there's real opportunity for suppliers on this.

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Speaker 1: So what the supplier has suggested that they are really

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Speaker 1: worried about, and this is a particular one that is

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Speaker 1: anonymous talking to the media today, is that they are

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Speaker 1: worried that they will just be cut out of being

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Speaker 1: able to supply if there is just one big decider

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Speaker 1: right at the moment. Obviously they can go to your competitor,

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Speaker 1: or they could go to yourself, or they can go

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Speaker 1: to food Stuff South Island. But if it's just if

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Speaker 1: you guys amalgamate, it's just two options for them, and

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Speaker 1: that's a big gamble. Is that potentially a problem where

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Speaker 1: if they fall out of favor, they're out Well.

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Speaker 2: I think the first thing is, if we think logically

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Speaker 2: about it, to get to North Island customers, there are

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Speaker 2: two large retailer grocery options, and to get the South

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Speaker 2: Old customers there are too, and we still will be

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Speaker 2: after this merger. It makes no change to that. The

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Speaker 2: other thing that's quite unique about Foodstuffs is with every

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Speaker 2: one of our stores having one individual local growth runing family,

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Speaker 2: the supply can work with them to get locally ranged.

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Speaker 2: There are some amazing products on shelf in our stores

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Speaker 2: that are very local and very loved in that community.

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Speaker 2: And we have an emerged program where we've worked with

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Speaker 2: over turn and fifty supplies in the North Island. About

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Speaker 2: fifty of them, you know, brand new startup supplies. People

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Speaker 2: have great ideas. About fifty of them are now on

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Speaker 2: shelf in a small number of stores or a large number,

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Speaker 2: depending on who they are. That sort of thing we've

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Speaker 2: been so proud of for the last hundred years to do,

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Speaker 2: and we're going to keep doing after this merger.

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Speaker 1: Hey, Chris, while I've got you on the land covenance case,

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Speaker 1: am I right in reading this the way that it

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Speaker 1: looks like it's played out, which is that the ComCom

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Speaker 1: takes takes it to court, files against you guys, and

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Speaker 1: then you settle after that.

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Speaker 2: Essentially we have started the process of a settlement on

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Speaker 2: that issue. Relating back to twenty thirteen, fourteen, and the

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Speaker 2: court will review that settlement and decided they're satisfied with

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Speaker 2: it and for how much. I can't say at this point.

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Speaker 1: Will that be made public once the court says yes

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Speaker 1: or no, I believe it. Well, okay, cool, Hey, thank you, Chris.

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Speaker 1: Enjoy your week and really appreciate your time. That's Chris Quinn,

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Speaker 1: chief executive of food Stuff's North Island.

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Speaker 2: For more from Hither Duplessy, Allen Drive, listen live to

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