Do we like them?

Do we like Pak'nSave?

New Zealand discount supermarket chain, with independently owned stores supplied by the Foodstuffs co-operatives.

Our score: 5 out of 10. Cheap groceries that Kiwis rate, but it has a record of fines for blocking rivals and misleading pricing, plus a contested facial recognition rollout. We'd back it with reservations.

Pak'nSave is the no-frills, low-price banner of Foodstuffs, a New Zealand co-operative that also runs New World and Four Square. In 2026 it moved all three banners onto a single loyalty scheme, Club+. The mid-June rollout had problems, including customers struggling to scan the app.

The biggest blow was in 2024. The High Court fined Foodstuffs North Island $3.25 million for using land covenants to limit the sites available to competitors. The company said it never tried to enforce the covenants, and the judge accepted the breaches weren't intended.

In October 2026 two Pak'nSave stores, Silverdale and Mill Street, were fined a combined $580,500 after pleading guilty to inaccurate pricing under the Fair Trading Act. The Commerce Commission also said it has current proceedings against Foodstuffs North Island alleging cartel conduct.

The Commerce Commission also warned Foodstuffs North Island in 2025 about a likely breach of grocery competition law. Its supplier survey found 37 percent of suppliers described their dealings with the company as negative or very negative.

Facial recognition was trialled in North Island stores, including Pak'nSave. The Privacy Commissioner's inquiry found the use was justified but called the report "not a green light for more general use". For us that is a mixed score, as the stores are cheap but the conduct record is poor.