Analysis: Cheaper, publicly-owned Kiwi supermarkets? It’s an idea already taking shape in New York, US Correspondent Logan Church writes, after a grocery shop.
Even after three years in America, going to the supermarket still excites. The shelves are heaving with products that most Kiwis would never see (pumpkin pie filling in a can, anyone?). Fresh produce year-round thanks to its proximity to agricultural juggernauts like Mexico and, perhaps most importantly, so many options in a city like New York.
Big chains? Of course. Small delis? Love them. Independently owned supermarkets? Everywhere.
Nevertheless, when New York’s new mayor Zohran Mamdani was sworn into office, the city (the equivalent of an NZ council) began working on plans to implement one of his main campaign promises – opening up city-owned supermarkets, that are heavily subsidised to lower the cost of groceries.
It comes at a time where the cost of living for Americans is shooting through the roof, in large part due to the decisions being made in Washington DC such as introducing wide-reaching tariffs and starting a new war in the Middle East sending gas prices soaring.
So how do prices compare, and where will the public ownership plans go in New York and New Zealand?
I went to a nearby Trader Joes yesterday to pick up some essentials, and I’m always surprised at just how comparatively cheap some – not all, but many – prices are here compared to average incomes.
The numbers are... illuminating.
Comparing prices
All prices listed here are in New Zealand dollars. And, of course, there are many factors to take into account from the exchange rate to specials and the season.
Milk – with the dollar conversion today it was $5.09 for me. On the Woolworths NZ website the same 2 litre size is advertised for a slightly cheaper $4.82.
Half a dozen cage free eggs was also $5.09 for me, while the cheapest dozen I could find on New World NZ’s website was significantly more at $7.99.
Three broccoli heads at Trader Joes were $3.90 - at PAK’nSave NZ, 23% more at $4.79.
Two pounds (about a kg) of sweet potato cost me $4.75, while 1kg of kumara at Pak’nSAVE was $4.49.
Here’s the kicker.
The average annual median wage in NZ was $69,836 as of the middle of 2025.
In New York, converted to NZ dollars, it’s more than double that at $146,300.
And New Yorkers pay less for their eggs.
How does that happen?
What happens next?
Introducing his city-ownership plan, New York Mayor Mamdani said: “We cannot accept a status quo where even the most fundamental needs - putting food on the table - feel out of reach. This is about ensuring that every New Yorker, regardless of income or ZIP code, has access to fresh, healthy food at a price they can afford.”
The city is to open five stores by 2030 according to the plan and offer a 30% discount on the normal price of basic food.
It isn’t going to come cheap – the city has set aside almost $120m for initial construction, with annual running costs likely to be at least in the tens of millions. Some experts suggest it could be far more.
There has also been opposition, particularly from small supermarkets, the family-owned corner stores known as bodegas, and similar businesses who say they can’t compete if the city actively undercuts them.
Just this past month a business group has sued to stop the plan.
“It is a direct assault on minority business by a mayor who claims to be a champion of disenfranchised poor and working-class New Yorkers,” Kenneth Roldan of the Multicultural Business Association said in a statement after the lawsuit was filed.
At a recent press conference Mamdani defended his plan, saying he was confident it would stand up in the courts.
More conceptually, some I’ve spoken to here take issue that with the idea that a city that is the pinnacle of western capitalism would then deliberately undercut the free market.
Others say food is a human right.
‘KiwiMart’
This past weekend the Green Party in New Zealand proposed a new policy which would, among other things, see new KiwiMart supermarkets established that are publicly-owned, and would prioritise affordability.
"Our country produces enough food to feed 40 million people. There is no shortage of food in Aotearoa, but it's somehow becoming too expensive for too many New Zealanders," said Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick in the party’s press release.
The announcement strongly echoes the argument laid out by Mamdani, even if New Zealand is in a somewhat different position.
The city of New York has about 3 million more residents in its five boroughs than the total population of New Zealand but, unlike NZ’s supermarket duopoly, there is plenty of choice for shoppers, even among the big national brands.
Want more expensive, but higher quality? Wholefoods have you covered. Basic and inexpensive? Target. Somewhere in the middle? Trader Joes. Overseas companies like ALDI are also expanding. And those independent grocery stores I mentioned earlier are everywhere in New York – there’s an estimated 25,000 of them.
It’s too early to say if Mamdani’s plan will work, but he’s committed to trying. And it seems the Green Party are watching closely.
They, as well as other political parties, do correctly point out that something doesn’t seem to be working when it comes to grocery prices for Kiwis.
As the prices above from my shop yesterday show, there’s a long way to go for consumers in New Zealand.
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