Photo: Ziming Li
Woolworths has applied to the Commerce Commission for clearance to buy Beak and Johnston Holdings, which produces ready-meals, slow-cooked meats and soups under the brands Pitango, Artisano, Ready Chef, Beak and Sons and Strength Meals Co.
It also produces private label products, and imports and distributes Impossible Foods meat alternatives.
A Woolworths spokesperson said there was "significant demand" in New Zealand for convenient and affordable meals, and ready meals were one way to cater for that.
Woolworths had been a customer of Beak and Johnston for 27 years, the spokesperson said, and the company produced Woolworths-branded products such as lasagnes, pies and Indian and Asian meals.
"With a minority stake in (Beak and Johnston) City Kitchen since 2017, Woolworths is further investing in local manufacturing sites in Australia and New Zealand to continue its expansion into the growing ready-meal category.
"In New Zealand, Beak and Johnston already employs 65 team members.
"This proposed purchase aligns with Woolworths' commitment to expanding the quality, range, and taste of our own and exclusive brands, which plays a crucial role in attracting customers to choose Woolworths for their grocery shopping needs."
Woolworths does not currently manufacture any grocery products in the country.
The deal is subject to Commerce Commission approval.
If the deal did go ahead, Bodo Lang, a marketing expert at Massey University, said it could have negative effects on competition in the supermarket sector.
"We already have a super-concentrated grocery retailing market.
"Now one of those two grocery retailers wants to buy a supplier - that could lessen competition because the other brands, Foodstuffs in this instance, may not be able to access those products at all, or at a competitive price."
Lang said it made sense for Woolworths.
"It's a classic case of vertical diversification, specifically upstream.
"Buying a supplier, basically. The question is does it make sense for consumers, and I'm not sure whether it does."
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