Experts are sharing their top tips on how to save at the supermarket as costs at the checkout soar.
Food prices were up 12.1% in March 2023 compared to March last year, according to Stats NZ's latest food price index.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, nutritionist Claire Turnbull said people should look to buy things that are cheap but also nutritious like oats, kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils.
"A bag of rolled oats, $3.60, and there are 30 servings in that so it's $25c a serving and when you put that with milk or some Value or Homebrand raisins you can make breakfast, you could make a snack with that.
"Lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, in other parts of the world they are staple as their protein source, particularly where people are vegetarian."
Food prices were up 12.1% in March compared to March last year, according to Stats NZ's latest food price index. (Source: Breakfast)
She said with canned lentils, people can make soups, casseroles, burgers, and dips.
"You can literally make an adapted version of most meals with pulses."
Turnbull said with 500g of mince, people can make four meals for four by also using onions, carrots, cans of pulses and bulking it and freezing it throughout the week.
"Rather than fresh fish use canned fish. When cabbages are cheap making your own slaw is really good because you can buy a cabbage for $3 sometimes.
"If it's a big cabbage, a bag of carrots is relatively cheap, that's the salad base for the week."
She said while people will have preconceived ideas about tofu, it's cheap and a great source of protein.
"It's so much cheaper than chicken. Nutrition wise it's got all the essential amino acids in it, it's just knowing how to use it."
Turnbull added that one of the best ways to make the most of groceries is knowing how to cook.
"A lot of the foods that are cheap and highly processed that people are buying on a daily basis are not nutritionally sound you know, are not nutritionally good, but you need to know how to use the alternatives."
Also speaking to Breakfast this morning, Māngere Budgeting Services Trust chief executive Lara Dolan said not everyone has the time to cook, especially if they are doing shift work.
She said this is why the budgeting service is developing food parcels to help those most in need.
Dolan added she expects the demand for food parcels will increase due to the cost of living crisis.
"It's going to be really tough. My advice for everyone is to actually to get in touch with budgeting services and learn how to manage your money."
The stats
Prices were up in all the broad categories the food price index it looks at, Stats NZ consumer prices manager James Mitchell said.
Grocery food prices were up 14%; fruit and vegetables 22%; restaurant and ready meals 8.7; meat, poultry and fish 7.8%; and non-alcoholic drinks 8.2%.
Grocery foods were a larger contributor than fruit and vegetables to the increase as people tend to spend more on grocery foods than they do on the latter.
Eggs rose a huge 64%, six-pack yoghurt rose 22% and potato chips were up 17%. Mitchell said these three items were the largest drivers of the increase within grocery food.
Higher prices for tomatoes, potatoes and avocados drove the increase in fruit and vegetables.
Monthly food prices rose 0.8% in March compared to February — with the seasonally adjusted increase 0.5%.
"The 2.3% increase in grocery food was the largest contributor to the monthly movement. Within this group, the items having the greatest impact were barn or cage-raised eggs, six-pack yoghurt, and boxed chocolates," Mitchell said.
Meat, poultry, and fish were down 1%.
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