Scramble as cigarette retailers to go from 6000 to 600 next year

Dairy owners are vying for a place on a scaled-back list of retailers who will hold on to their smoked tobacco licence by the year's end. Only one in 10 shops who currently sell cigarettes will still be able to by next July - a cutback from 6000 dairies to 600. It's part of the bid to make New Zealand smokefree by 2025, but despite that goal being embarked upon as far back as 2011, some shop owners feel 'sprung upon', due to the late rush of policy change. It is a double edged sword. In some cases cigarette sales revenue accounts for up to half of a dairy's revenue stream - and a spot on the list is a lifeline. But with 230 ram raids in the first four months of this year, security concerns are rife for those who will continue being able to sell cigarettes, causing some, like Pukekohe's Lochview Dairy owner Ravi Singh, to opt out - despite the crushing financial losses. Dairy and Business Owners Group chair Sunny Kaushal is leading a group of concerned owners to Parliament tomorrow, urging for more clarity over the reduced list, which is set to be decided by November.