Battle of the prices: Which supermarket has the cheapest essentials?

Monday, 16 May 2022

Battle of the supermarkets: Who has the cheapest prices on essentials?

Prices of “essential” grocery items have now been frozen or rolled back by both of New Zealand’s big supermarket operators.

But does Countdown, which has frozen the price of more than 600 items over winter, or Foodstuffs, which has rolled back the prices of 110 items, give you the best deal?

Foodstuffs, which operates the New World, Pak’nSave, and Four Square brands, on Monday reduced the prices of its best-selling items to what they averaged during the 13 weeks between January 25 and April 25 last year.

We put together a cart made up of nine staples that Foodstuffs reduced in price on Monday, to see where the best prices can now be found.

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The lowest paid New World employees struggled to get above minimum wage.

The cart at each supermarket was made up of a 1.5-kilogram bag of apples, a 1.5kg bag of carrots, a block of home brand butter, a 1.5kg bag of home brand oats, 1kg of home brand wheat biscuits, a can of Oak spaghetti, 1kg of home brand long grain rice, home brand white bread, and 500 grams of home brand pasta.

At an Auckland New World, the cart came to a total of $29.61.

A 1.5kg bag of Yummy apples was $5.89, while a 1kg bag of Pams carrots was $3.69, a block of Rolling Meadow butter was $5.49, a 1.5kg bag of Pam’s Rolled Oats was $4.29, a 1kg box of Value wheat biscuits was $4.69, a can of Oak spaghetti was $1.29, 1kg of Value long grain rice was $1.89, a loaf of Value white bread was $1.15, and 500g of Value pasta was $1.19.

But slap $14 on for delivery and a $1 bag fee, and it pushed the order out to $44.61. Click and collect was almost $10 cheaper, at $35.61.

At a Christchurch New World, both the Yummy apples and Pams carrots were unavailable under the price rollback, and the cart totalled $31.91 – $46.91 with delivery.

A Countdown spokesperson says it can not comment on the Woolworths promotion.

At an Auckland Pak’nSave, the cart came to $28.09 – just $1.52 cheaper than New World.

At a Christchurch Pak’nSave, the total came to $27.83.

The supermarket does not offer a delivery option, but a $5 click and collect and a $1 bag fee brought the total to $34.09.

Countdown froze the price of more than 600 essential items on May 9, but the chain came under fire after the list featured next to no fruit, vegetables or meat.

Some items included in our cart were not included in the price freeze, but the cart still came in at not much more than New World and Pak’nSave at $28.90.

A 2kg Odd Bunch bag of apples was $3, a 1.5kg bag of Odd Bunch carrots was $3, a block of Countdown butter was $5.80, a 1kg box of Countdown wheat biscuits was $5.20, a can of Oak spaghetti was $1.60, 1kg of Countdown long grain rice was $2.20, a loaf of Essentials white bread was $1.50, and 500g of pasta was $2.

There was only a 750g home brand oats option, which cost $2.30 – so 1.5kg would have cost $4.60.

The delivery fee was also $14, bringing the total order to $42.90, while click and collect was $34.90.

The Warehouse has been slowly moving into the grocery sector, and grocery sales was a standout category for the retailer in the 13 weeks to May 1.

Although it does not offer fresh fruit, a 1.2kg box of Weetbix, 900g of Harraways Rolled Oats, 500g of pasta, 1kg of rice, a block of Tararua butter, and a tin of Oak spaghetti came to $18.66 with free click and collect, or $24.66 with a $6 delivery fee.