Hilton said the offenders left the dairy in a car which was believed to be driven by a third person.
It was found dumped nearby and is being examined for evidence.
A police spokeswoman said police were called to a robbery at a dairy on Trafalgar St in Onehunga at 2pm this afternoon.
"Incidents like these are of serious concern to Police and we want to send a clear message that we will do all we can to hold the offenders accountable," Hilton said.
About the same time a Tauranga dairy was robbed by two men armed with a hammer.
Senior Sergeant Steven Shaw said the Carlisle St Convenience store in Greerton was robbed about 2pm.
They threatened the staff member before fleeing on foot with an unknown amount of cash and cigarettes.
The Crime Prevention Group organiser Sunny Kaushal said today's Papatoetoe meeting was the first time members of all the major political parties had come together with community leaders to discuss the issue.
"We were able to take the issue to the next level," Kaushal said. "We are not here to listen to election promises. We need concrete action on the ground.
"Hardly a day goes by without incident. Shopkeepers are being brutally attacked. We need to act quickly before it becomes an epidemic ... tomorrow they will start entering into people's homes."
The meeting comes after about 700 people joined the Crime Prevention group in a march down Great South Rd, in Manukau last weekend, calling on authorities for better protection of shopkeepers and harsher penalties for offenders.
The next step was a march to Parliament with the petition, which had already gained 6000-7000 signatures. A hunger strike was also being considered, Kaushal said.
Kaushal said he believed a special task force within the police needed to be set up to deal with crimes on businesses, police stations that had been closed down needed to reopen, shopkeepers needed to be allowed some form of self-defence and there needed to be harsher punishments for people who on-sold stolen goods.