Tobacco retailers will feel ‘full brunt of crime’ once city outlets slashed to 13

Thursday, 21 September 2023

Dairy owners are hesitant to apply to be one of the 13 retailers allowed to sell tobacco products in Christchurch afraid they will become a target for crime.

However, doing without cigarettes could result in a financial loss of up to 50% for some.

On Friday, the Ministry of Health revealed that its planned licensing programme to reduce the number of businesses allowed to sell tobacco products - from about 6000 to 599 - would leave just 13 in Christchurch.

Sunny Kaushal, chairperson of the Dairy and Business Owners’ Group, said dairy owners feared the remaining 13 outlets would feel “the full brunt of crime”.

Harewood Superette owner Shailesh Patel said he would not apply to be one of the 13. He worried it would make his premises an “easy target” for crime and lead to an unaffordable increase in insurance premiums.

“Each of those outlets [will] have to stock huge numbers of smokes and would become a serious target.”

Tobacco sales made up 50% of his revenue, so losing it would be a huge blow, he said.

He was looking for other ways to keep his business viable, “like take-out and fried chicken and chips, and introducing other services”.

Kaushal said most dairies made 40 to 50% of their revenue from tobacco, so the changes had owners fearing for their future.

He felt “hard working people were being punished”, and retailers were not being given enough time to transition.

“We’re not against the smokefree programme, we are behind a smokefree New Zealand, but what we have asked for is … give the retailers a transition time so they can reset their models.

“New Zealand is heading towards smoke [country] free automatically. It will happen anyway, we don’t not need to kill all these businesses.”

By “rushing” the legislation through, gangs and the black market would “flourish” from tobacco sales, Kaushal said.

“The Government is virtually giving out $2 billion on a platter to the gangs.”

He did not think removing cigarettes would stop dairies being robbed or ramraided.

Retailers can apply to the Tobacco Regulatory Authority from Thursday to become an approved smoked tobacco retailer.

The business’ location, security and training would be at the forefront of considerations, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.

“Retailers will need to provide details of their business and how it runs, and each application will be assessed (ranked) on the answers provided.

“There are strict security criteria for retailers to be eligible for approval, including appropriate security cameras, alarms, and fog cannons, which will help us ensure that only the most secure premises are approved.”

Police and independent security experts were providing input, and the security questions would be reviewed “consistently and fairly … by security experts who understand what is appropriate for specific premises”.

Once all the assessments were done, the highest ranked applications in each area - up to the published maximum - would be approved, the spokesperson said.

Canterbury would have 13 approved retailers in Christchurch city, three each in Rangiora and Ashburton, two each in Rolleston and Kaiapoi, and one each in Amberley, Darfield, Leeston, Lincoln, Lyttelton, Woodend, West Melton, Prebbleton and Oxford. There would also be one approved retailer at Christchurch Airport.

When asked if it would apply to be one of the Christchurch’s 13 retailers, Foodstuffs - which owns retails franchises Four Square, Pak’nSave and New World - said it would be up to individual store owners if they wanted to apply.

Countdown was also approached for comment, but did not respond by the deadline given.