Supermarket prices: NZ prices compared to international shops

Friday, 3 June 2022

Aldi would provide Kiwis with cheaper grocery options if it was to open in New Zealand.

With the Government pursuing options to generate more competition in the supermarket sector, there is hope shoppers could soon see cheaper groceries.

German supermarket Aldi, which also operates in Australia, was tipped to be eyeing up property here to open its discount stores.

But a spokesperson for the chain this week confirmed it had “no current plans to expand into New Zealand'.

It came after finance minister Grant Robertson said there was interest from a “number of other players” wanting to open in New Zealand, noting Aldi as one of the 'players in the Australian market that people can take a look at'.

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Stuff conducted a comparison shop at New Zealand supermarkets and some of their international counterparts.

A basket of five goods, which included a 12-pack of free-range eggs, 500 grams of butter, 1 kilogram of frozen peas, 2 kilograms of laundry powder and 500g of colby cheese, came to NZ$24.96 at Aldi Australia.

The same basket of comparable products came to $30.05 at an Auckland Pak ‘n Save, $33.70 at an Auckland Countdown and $35.75 at an Auckland New World for non-club members, or $31.45 for club members.

The most expensive product in the Aldi basket was a 500g unsalted block of butter for $6.63. The most expensive item in the Countdown basket was Mainland colby cheese 500g for $9.30.

The most expensive item in the Pak ‘n Save basket was also cheese, with a 500g block of Meadow Fresh colby cheese coming to $8.99.

In the New World basket it was the Surf 2kg laundry powder for $9.99. Its block of Rolling Meadow colby cheese 500g had been rolled back in price to $8.79.

Other Aussie supermarkets include Coles and IGA.

At Coles the basket came to $30.04 and at IGA it came to $33.73.

We also compared the basket prices to other overseas grocery giants Tesco in the United Kingdom and Walmart in the United States.

The basket of similar products at the UK’s Tesco came to $24.60 – just a fraction cheaper than Aldi.

Every single item on the list was offered by Tesco’s home brand – which was relatively cheaper than most others. The cheapest item was 1kg of Tesco frozen garden peas for the equivalent of $1.72, and the most expensive was 2.6kg of Tesco laundry powder for $7.18.

At Walmart, it was harder to shop for similar items due to the sizing differences compared to NZ products, and it didn’t end up much cheaper, either. In many US states, tax is added to the advertised retail price.

The total basket came to $36.71 – but that was mainly down to a 2.6kg box of Gain Original 80 loads laundry powder, which cost $17.48.

So Aldi remains one of the cheapest supermarkets Kiwis could get their products from, followed by Tesco.

But who might want to eventually open in New Zealand remains a mystery for now.