Stock photo By Louise Ternouth of RNZ What happens when the price at the supermarket checkout keeps rising but your budget does not? In RNZ's latest installment of Checkpoint's new series Crunching the Numbers, we are drilling into the detail of the weekly shop from Countdown and PAK'n SAVE to see how much it has gone up since 2022. It is no secret Kiwis are feeling the pinch, so RNZ asked shoppers how much the weekly shop was setting them back. One woman said for a household of four it cost them $200.
Another shopper said for their household of four with three teenagers it cost $500. A single pensioner said he usually paid $100 a week. For over two years, Checkpoint has been tracking the price of 36 supermarket items in the same area.
Our first shop in May 2022 at Greenlane Countdown cost us $238 dollars and the same items at PAK'n SAVE Royal Oak cost $217. Two years later, that same shop at Countdown Greenlane jumped to $289, while PAK'n SAVE's shop shot up to $256. Shoppers told Checkpoint they were leaving products out of their trolleys.
One shopper said she shopped around for her fruit and vegetables at the local green grocer which was "miles cheaper". Another said she tried to buy in bulk and told her kids "they've got to eat baked beans and two-minute noodles". Compared to our 2022 shop, seasonal veges like carrots and cauliflower were cheaper.
A 1kg block of cheese was about $10 or less at both supermarkets and milk stayed the same or came out slightly less. But those.