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Download AudioHeavyweight boxer turned foodbank operator Dave Letele is defending supermarkets facing increased government oversight.
Mr Letele says the grocery commissioner announced this week by Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark is a waste of money.
The new Commerce Commission member will keep an eye on the competition in the sector and take action against the breach of a new code of conduct.
Mr Letele says when he set up his Buttabean foodbank two years ago the first person he called was Foodstuffs chief executive Chris Quinn.
“Foodstuffs, they invest megabucks into the community. They help us. We’re setting up a social supermarket. The model is what we are doing in (Buttabean Motivation) where it is a community working alongside business and government. That’s the model, we all work together for the common good, for the common goal of helping people,” he says.
Mr Letele says he’s working with Foodstuff to set up a social supermarket in Tokoroa next month, where low-income people will be given credits to select items rather than take what is offered by a food bank, and he’d like to set up another in south Auckland.
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