Foodstuffs (NZ) Ltd is a New Zealand grocery company owned by the retailers' cooperatives, Foodstuffs North Island Limited and Foodstuffs South Island Limited. Together, the two cooperatives collectively control an estimated 53% of the New Zealand grocery market. The group owns retail franchises Four Square, New World and Pak'nSave, in-store private labels Pam's, Pam's Finest, and Value (formerly named Budget). Foodstuffs' major competitor is the New Zealand division of the Australian Woolworths Group through their main supermarket chain Countdown, creating an effective duopoly in New Zealand's supermarket industry. History The first Foodstuffs co-operative was formed in Auckland in 1922. On 6 July 1922, Foodstuffs founder J Heaton Barker called together members of the Auckland Master Grocers' Association to discuss plans for the formation of a co-operative buying group. The buying group expanded in 1925 with the introduction of Four Square branding on members' stores. Similar co-operatives were set up in other parts of the country, with Wellington commencing also in 1922, Christchurch in 1928 and Dunedin in 1948. Initially, the buying groups traded under different names, but in 1935, the name Foodstuffs was applied to all the original co-operatives. There have been various mergers between the small regional co-operatives, and until recently there were three co-operative companies: Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd; Foodstuffs (Wellington) Co-operative Society Ltd, and Foodstuffs South Island Ltd. Each operated independently and autonomously with its own board of directors, chief executive officer and management structure. There were no common members or shareholders. The organisation has continued to evolve, adopting supermarkets early in their evolution with the formation of the New World group in 1963. The Pak'nSave group began later, and the first store was opened in Kaitaia in 1985. On 7 February 2013, Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd and Foodstuffs (Wellington) Co-operative Society Ltd announced that a merger was being planned to bring the two companies together under the name Foodstuffs North Island Ltd. The merged Foodstuffs North Island started trading on 1 September 2013. Four Square Four Square is a trans-Tasman chain of small scale grocery stores – ranging from small dairies to small supermarkets. During the 1950s the Foodstuffs advertising department designed the famous "Mr 4 Square" who initially appeared only in newspaper advertising and posters, but was developed to become part of the Four Square identity, appearing in every Four Square store and eventually becoming a nationally recognised symbol in New Zealand, remaining famous to this day.