Grocery Supply Code and Supplier Agreements

FSSI is committed to working with all suppliers in good faith, with transparency and with reasonableness and is also committed to meeting all requirements under Code.

On the 1st of May 2026, amendments made by the Government to the Grocery Supply Code came into effect.

To ensure our written supply agreements remain current and fully compliant under the 2026 Code, we have updated our Master Terms Agreement (MTA) to reflect these changes.

A tracked changes version showing the changes is available here.

What Is in an FSSI Supplier Agreement?

A FSSI Supplier Agreement contains the following:

Master Terms Agreement (MTA) – These are our standard FSSI trading terms with suppliers. Click through the link to view.
Commercial Terms Agreement (CTA) – This agreement covers specific commercial terms between your company and the FSSI Support Centre. These may include, but not be limited to, your Vendor number within our systems, an agreed settlement discount, relevant article pricing – as well as any other terms or discounts mutually agreed at that time to inform our trading relationship.
In addition, if you have not opted out of becoming a Wholesale Supplier, we will also include the relevant agreement that covers this also.

All of these “Agreements” make up your Supplier Agreement.

What if I have questions about my FSSI Supplier Agreement?

If you have any questions relating to any of the Supplier Agreement(s) then please contact us on supplier.agreements@foodstuffs-si.co.nz.

What about my Store Specific Agreements?

Any store specific agreements (SCTA) will be documented by the relevant store and shared with you separately. If you have any questions on these agreements, please contact the Store directly in the first instance to discuss.

Ranging and Shelf Allocation Principles

As part of the Code, please see our Ranging and Shelf Allocation principles (below):

FSSI Product Ranging Principles

Our ranging principles are guided by our focus on winning customer loyalty. We put the customer at the heart of our ranging decision which is captured in a category strategy.
The category strategy considers the needs-state of our customer when they shop, the roles and levers that may be applicable in the category and the potential for supplier products to play a part in that
• We evaluate the following when deciding to range products:
- Does the product meet the customer needs state?
- Will the product drive customer loyalty?
- Does the product have a special story, any innovation or is the product substitutable?
- Does the product proposition meet the commercial requirements of the business?
- Can the product be supplied in a cost effective and efficient way throughout the South Island?
- Is the product sourced or created in a responsible and ethical way?
- Does the product proposition help deliver on our purpose and vision as a South Island co-operative?
Our product ranging principles are routinely used throughout our business. However, product ranging decisions can be impacted by various factors including sourcing, weather, crisis and market dynamics.
Ranging decisions are made by our Support Centre teams and Store teams. Both groups make decisions that are consistent with these principles as applicable to them.

FSSI Shelf Allocation Principles

We take a customer-centric approach to how we organise products across our supermarkets – this includes across departments, within aisles and on shelf.
Our customer data informs us on the best approach, and we also consider the retail expertise of our Owner-Operators, who have an intimate understanding of our customer behaviour.
Within these plans we position products together based on price and product attributes. We focus on presentation to ensure products are well presented and contribute to a great retail environment.
Various product attributes including supplier packaging dimension and format, regulatory requirements, overall store layout and supplier inbound supply service levels means we may deviate from our core principles from time to time.

Wastage

Under the Grocery Supply Code, FSSI can make a claim to the Supplier to cover the loss from wastage (groceries that are unfit for sale) in certain circumstances, such a s where the damage, defect or issue was due to Supplier action or omission - even if the issue is discovered whilst the goods are under FSSI's control. For more information, refer to the FSSI Supplier Guidance to Wastage.