Two shopping lists two years apart have highlighted how much more we're paying at the checkout.
Grocery food prices are 19.3% higher than they were in September 2021 and that's reflected in the results from Fair Go's latest shop across the major supermarkets.
The programme has been checking the prices on common grocery items throughout 2021 to 2023.
The grocery shop is always carried out on a Wednesday, at the same three Auckland supermarkets (Countdown St Johns, New World Stonefields and Pak'nSave Glen Innes), purchasing the same staples and indulgences.
When Fair Go shopped for a 1kg block of standard Mainland cheese in September 2021, the average price across the supermarkets on that day was $13. In October 2023, it was nearly $16.
A 250g pack of Beehive streaky bacon was $6 during its September 2021 shop, but was nearly $2 more in the latest shop and a loaf of basic toast bread was up 27%, from an average of $2.90 to $3.69.
Product prices were affected by whatever special was on that day, so it offers a snapshot, rather than prices tracked over time.
Fair Go also looked at how much the total cost of the shops compared two years on.
When Fair Go shopped at Countdown on September 29, 2021, its basket total came to $63.50. The cost for the most recent shop on October 11, 2023, increased by 13.7% to $72.21.
Pak'nSave saw the sharpest rise from two years ago, with prices up 19.2%. Two years ago, the cost of the Fair Go basket was $58.49. This month it was $69.72.
Both times, Fair Go's most expensive shop was at New World, where prices rose 14.4% to $79.01, up from $69.04.
Although food cost increases have slowed in recent months, economist Cameron Bagrie makes the point that prices are still well above general inflation.
"Food price inflation is up 15 to 20 per cent in the past couple of years, we're seeing that within the consumer price index, the food price index and we're seeing it within your basket that you've measured compared to two years ago," he told Fair Go.
Bagrie said New Zealand is facing a "complex web of challenges that makes inflation a whole lot more sticky than we're used to, so getting food inflation from 9 or 10 down to 2 per cent looks likes it's going to be a really tough job to achieve".
He said one "brutal way" to tackle that is through the Reserve Bank increasing interest rates to encourage us to spend less. But he'd like to see parts of our economy working harder, including supermarkets.
"The more competitive forces we see out there, the more we see the inability of firms to pass on price increases 'willy nilly' to the general consumer."
The major players say they're already working to keep prices down.
Countdown, which saw the smallest basket cost increase of the three supermarkets, said it knows times are tough and is pleased "to see that our absolute focus on value and partnering with our suppliers has had a positive impact on our result in this basket comparison".
"As we head into Christmas and 2024, our focus continues to be on delivering value for our customers and keeping food and groceries as affordable as possible."
While Foodstuffs, which owns Pak'nSave and New World, told us it's fighting inflation by buying well and finding efficiencies in its business.
"We're proud to have kept Foodstuffs prices below Stats NZ's Food Price Index for 17 months in a row now. Our advice to New Zealanders is to shop the specials and seasonally to get the best bang for their buck."
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