New Zealand's highly concentrated grocery industry saw only minor observable change in core competition metrics over the course of 2025, with the country's top grocery retailers maintaining a combined market share of 82%, New Zealand's Commerce Commission said in a Tuesday report.

Margins and profitability also remained relatively stable, as Foodstuffs South Island increased margins while Foodstuffs North Island and Woolworths Group (ASX:WOW) posted small declines, the agency said in its latest state of grocery competition report.

Rebates, discounts, and payments between major grocery retailers and suppliers totaled about NZ$6 billion in 2025, accounting for 26% of the aggregate sales revenue for major grocery retailers. Online grocery sales grew to 8% of major retailers' sales revenue in 2025, up from 7% in 2024, according to the report.

The top grocery retailers together invested NZ$595 million over the year, directing 62% of the total toward retail stores.

Meanwhile, food price inflation picked up again in 2025 after easing in the previous year, with retail food prices jumping 4.6% in the year through December 2025, and the Middle East conflict is likely to exert additional cost pressures this year.

"Given the lack of competition in New Zealand's grocery industry, we are concerned that this will amplify the negative effects of this situation," the Commerce Commission said.

Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden said regulatory changes since 2022 are starting to yield some benefit, and the environment is "becoming more enabling for the entry and expansion of other grocery retailers, which will support an increase in consumer choice."