Voucher Offer Shuts Down Dozens Of FreshChoice Liquor Licences

A nationwide group of FreshChoice supermarkets will have their off-licences suspended for 48 hours after an online beer promotion was found to breach alcohol advertising rules, Stuff has reported.

38 FreshChoice stores have been issued two-day suspensions, scheduled to be served between Sunday, September 14, and Thursday, September 18. The action stems from a December 2024 voucher promotion run by Wholesale Distributors Limited (WDL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Woolworths New Zealand Limited.

The promotion offered customers who purchased a specific beer brand a chance to win a $100 FreshChoice voucher. Authorities determined the offer constituted an irresponsible promotion of alcohol under New Zealand’s Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, prompting the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA) to intervene.

Woolworths New Zealand’s franchise executive general manager, Tim Cartwright, told Stuff that the company takes its responsibilities as an alcohol retailer seriously.

Cartwright also noted that some supermarkets had displayed expired liquor licences online during the same period, despite holding current licences.

FreshChoice operates 43 stores in the North Island and 31 in the South Island, meaning not all stores are affected by the suspension, Stuff reports.

Senior Sergeant Shane Benge of Wellington told Stuff that police became aware of the online advertisement in late 2024. Benge said that, given supermarkets had already been warned about online advertising breaches following suspensions of 36 South Island New World supermarkets earlier that year, police applied to ARLA to suspend the 38 FreshChoice licences.

Investigations also revealed that 17 FreshChoice supermarkets displayed expired licences online, although they held current licences, representing an additional breach of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.

Stuff previously reported that in September 2024, 32 New World supermarkets in the South Island were hit with 48-hour liquor licence suspensions for a similar breach. The discount offered in that instance exceeded the 25% limit allowed under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, reaching 26.1%.