Big bucks for small chip off the old block

Friday, 12 December 2008

Hailey White says the price of cheese means her family lives off just 250 grams of the 'yellow gold' a week.

The mother of two, from the Wellington suburb of Brooklyn, said the $5.29 she parted with to purchase it was 'quite ridiculous' and meant she only bought cheese in small blocks.

'I think it's more expensive to buy it in the smaller block, but we don't use much,' she said. 'But the price definitely needs to go down.'

A simple block of cheese hit the spotlight after John Key labelled Labour's proposed tax cuts of an average $16 as 'worth a family-size block of cheese' early this year. His joke about the 'Colby cheese Budget review' resonated with families who struggled with rising day-to-day costs and the humble block of 'yellow gold' became the standard to which price rises were compared.

Figures published by Statistics New Zealand yesterday showed the price of cheddar was up 35.2 per cent this year compared with October 2007, despite international dairy prices falling to half what they were a year ago.

Ms White said her weekly shopping bill had gone up by as much as $50 since this time last year, and she did not get any more for her money. 'I don't really look at the price of fruit and vege, though, because it's a necessity in myself and the kids' diets.'

But she was philosophical about future price rises: 'If it goes up, I guess we'll just have to work harder.'