Supermarkets selling beer cheaper than water being investigated by police
Friday, 10 February 2023
Foodstuffs, Countdown and Uber Eats are being investigated by police after one supermarket was found to be selling almost-expired beer for 67 cents.
Pak ‘n Save New Plymouth was snapped selling Hollandia Premium six-packs for just $3.99 last month, while the usual price was $12.49 – a discount of more than 60%, Newsroom reported.
The Sale and Supply of Alcohol act states any alcohol can not be discounted more than 25%.
Pak ‘n Save New Plymouth owner Peter Melody told Stuff he was unable to comment further on the issue.
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Countdown had also advertised a dozen Heinekens with $8 off and last weekend Uber Eats sent out promotional emails with 25% off alcohol.
Police manager of alcohol harm prevention, Inspector Hamish Milne, confirmed the supermarkets and Uber Eats were being investigated.
He said Uber have been engaged with and admitted a human error that led to its advertising of its 25% discount and had been warned for breaching the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.
The Pak ‘n Save investigations were ongoing and sit with the alcohol harm prevention officers in the respective locations, he said.
Foodstuffs, Countdown and Uber Eats had admitted their mistakes and pulled the product and promotional content from its websites.
Foodstuffs spokesperson Emma Wooster said it had come to the co-operative’s attention that it had some short-dated beers priced lower than they should have been.
“As soon as we became aware of the short-dated product being sold for an incorrect price at the relevant Pak ‘n Save stores, we took fast action, and the in-store and online prices were either corrected to the normal retail price or the product was removed from sale.”
A Countdown spokesperson said it proactively worked with a number of stakeholders, including police and local councils, to ensure that our approach to the sale and promotion of alcohol complied with all relevant legislation.
“We haven’t had any concerns raised about our alcohol discount advertising. We’d invite anyone who does have a concern to reach out.”
Alcohol Healthwatch acting director Rebecca Williams said it was an interesting situation because exposure to cheap alcohol and alcohol adverting were both shown to contribute to harmful drinking.
“Another concern is the behaviour of these licence holders/traders – clearly this heavy discounting isn’t socially responsible, however they continue to do it thinking that no-one can do anything about it.”
She said she hoped the investigation would provide some clarity.
“If New Zealand was to implement best practice then we would see a ban on all alcohol marketing, implementation of a minimum price regime and increase in alcohol excise tax.”