The Tauranga man responsible for leading the nationwide social media boycott against Countdown will not back down unless the supermarket chain produces 'more action than words”.

Mount Cats and Yaks owner Nevan Lancaster's ‘Boycott Countdown” Facebook page has ballooned in popularity since Labour MP Shane Jones' allegations the Australian-owned chain is blackmailing New Zealand suppliers into paying to keep their products on its shelves.

Nevan Lancaster at Pilot Bay following his Boycott Countdown page gaining popularity. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Fairfax Media reports Jones claimed under Parliamentary privilege that he has spoken to Kiwi suppliers about meetings they were being summoned to with Countdown management, and told if they did not make cash payments, they faced permanent exclusion from the shelves.

And if they revealed the meetings to anyone, they would be "blacklisted".

Speaking about the Facebook page, Nevan admits he was initially shocked at the popularity but places much of the credit on the developments in the last 24 hours.

Since the allegations the number of allegations has spiked from 1000 on Wednesday to 4000 today.

'I'm sort of surprised it took off so greatly, but given the Shane Jones revelation the Katherine Rich statement and Rod Oram on Radio New Zealand, no not really,” says Nevan.

'It's been a fairly open secret in the food industry that supermarkets have got this strong position in the market that they dictate how everything works.”

Nevan says thanks to Shane 'opening the lid” on the deep issue, supermarket shoppers are now realising the 'drama” going on behind the scenes to get such simple items as bread, and fresh produce, on to the shelves.

In Parliament, Shane said Progressive Enterprises – owners of the Countdown supermarket chain – are demanding cash payments from Kiwi businesses on the grounds that its Australian shareholders were not happy with prior profitability.

Nevan is urging people to start looking elsewhere for groceries, especially locally-owned producers and suppliers.

'Just try something new. Just for a couple of months or couple of weeks try buying your food at different places, I know supermarkets are convenient and easy and that's why they get ten billion dollars a year in your money.

'Take this opportunity to get to know your local butcher, your local baker and green grocer.”

In a media statement, Progressive Enterprises managing director Dave Chambers says the company categorically reject the allegations made by Shane.

He goes on to say the company is proud to have a long history of supporting New Zealand suppliers and the strong relationships with more than 1200 local and multinational companies in New Zealand.

'As a passionate Kiwi, I am also proud of the 18,000 New Zealanders who work hard to serve our customers every day, and of the investment our business continues to make in the economy,” says Dave.

Dave says his company will fully co-operate with any inquiries from the Commerce Commission.