Guidance to increase supermarket competition and help lower prices

Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has welcomed the release of new Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) guidance that will make it easier for international investors to understand and navigate New Zealand's Overseas Investment Act (the Act), particularly in the supermarket and grocery sector.

“New investment means more choices and lower prices at the checkout. If we want new investment, we need to stop doing things that repel it and start doing things that attract it,” Mr Seymour says.

“That’s why we’ve issued new guidelines which roll out the red carpet for credible investors looking to open a new supermarket in NZ. The guidelines specify to investors which provisions of the Act apply to them, what tests their investment needs to meet, and how LINZ will apply those tests to their application. This will give investors more certainty when making their applications.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for credible investors to establish or expand grocery retail operations in New Zealand. The more options there are for kiwis, the more competition there is within the market. This will lead to lower prices for Kiwis at the checkout.

“This government has been focussed on attracting more international investment, and we’ve made a great start. For example, we’ve also reformed how applications under the Act are processed.

“In the past financial year, LINZ have granted consent to 230 transactions with a gross investment value of approximately $23.8 billion. The second highest number of consents granted in one year was 201, in 2024/25.

“The new law says decisions on all investments except residential land, farmland and fishing quota must be made within 15 working days, unless there is a potential national interest concern, but the target is five working days. Residential land, farmland and fishing quota will continue going through existing pathways.”

LINZ have met the target assessment timeframes for the new investment pathways. Specifically:

Average assessment timeframes for business and production forestry investments had already halved since June 2024 and continue to reduce. Since the Amendment Act took effect, these investments are now approved in just four working days.
Since our Government was elected, we’ve reduced the average processing time from 71 working days to 23.

“The changes to processing applications have created efficiencies across the overall regime which will free up resource for supermarket applications,” Mr Seymour says.

“New Zealand has been turning away opportunities for growth for too long. International investment is critical to ensuring economic growth. It provides access to capital and technology that grows New Zealand businesses, enhances productivity, and supports high paying jobs.” ...