Cooperating without colluding: where's the line? Auckland

Understanding competition law for cooperatives, buying groups and member-owned businesses.

Cooperation is at the heart of the cooperative business model. Members come together to achieve things they couldn't necessarily achieve alone, whether that's purchasing at scale, negotiating with suppliers, marketing their products, sharing information or developing common services.

But what happens when the businesses working together are also competitors? Where does legitimate collaboration end and potentially anti-competitive behaviour begin?

For co-ops and buying groups, understanding that distinction is essential. And it's not always as straightforward as it might seem.

Join Cooperative Business New Zealand and our partners Anderson Lloyd and Deloitte for an interactive discussion exploring the rules of working together under New Zealand's Commerce Act.

Rather than a traditional legal seminar, we'll work through realistic scenarios that co-op directors, executives, members and support-office teams could encounter, exploring the issues from both legal and economic perspectives.

Our expert panel will bring together Sarah Simmers from Anderson Lloyd, alongside Liza van der Merwe and Mayuresh Prasad from Deloitte, to unpack the grey areas, challenge assumptions and provide practical guidance on how co-operatives can collaborate confidently and lawfully.

What we'll explore

• Cooperation versus collusion: Why businesses can legitimately work together, and when collaboration may cross the line into anti-competitive conduct.

• Collective purchasing and supplier relationships: What happens when members negotiate together, individual businesses receive different supplier terms, or collective bargaining becomes a coordinated refusal to deal?

• Information sharing and benchmarking: What can members safely share, and when might conversations about pricing, margins, promotions or commercial plans become problematic?

• Producer cooperatives: How do collective marketing, quality standards and production coordination differ from potentially unlawful agreements about pricing or supply?

• Governance and practical safeguards: What should directors, executives and support offices have in place to help their co-operatives operate confidently within the law?

Real scenarios. Practical insights.

Competition law isn't always black and white, particularly for businesses built around collaboration.

We'll use fictional but realistic scenarios to explore situations that may feel familiar to many co-ops, without requiring anyone to share potentially sensitive examples from their own organisation.

Our experts will examine what makes collaboration legitimate, where risks can arise, how market dynamics influence the assessment, and what practical steps can help cooperatives stay on the right side of the law.

The aim isn't simply to identify what co-ops shouldn't do. It's to build a clearer understanding of what they can do, why the distinction matters, and how to structure collaboration appropriately.

Who should attend?

This session is particularly relevant for co-op and mutual directors, CEOs and senior leaders, support-office executives, member-owners, procurement and commercial teams, and those responsible for governance, member relationships and compliance.

Whether your organisation is a branded retail cooperative, a buying group, a producer cooperative or another member-owned business, you'll leave with a better understanding of the questions to ask, the risks to recognise and the safeguards worth considering.

About the event

A light breakfast is included, followed by an overview of the Commerce Act and proposed changes, panel scenarios and audience Q&A.

This session provides general educational information and does not constitute legal advice about individual businesses or arrangements.