Say ‘cheese’: how private labels are sweeping the shelves and growing supermarket margins

Who cut the cheese? Local suppliers face a triple threat from private labels, EU imports and range reviews. (Image: NZME)

Garth Bray

Thu, 24 Apr 2025

Brie, camembert, and haloumi are on the frontline of a battle in the aisles. The rise of supermarket private labels or "own brands" is putting competitive pressure on local cheesemakers, and a flood of cheaper European cheeses is sharpening that competition even further.Gisborne cheesemaker Waimata Cheese has cut production of its blue mould and white mould cheeses in the face of steeper competition from supermarket private labels.“It's quite a big drop. We're probably a quarter of what we used to be five years ago, down...

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