Apart from Covid-19, there's another topic on everyone's lips right now - the high price of groceries at the supermarket. Photo / NZME
Food prices at the supermarket are constantly increasing. Reporter Jenny Ling talks to thrifty Northlanders to find the best shopping strategies to fight high grocery costs.
Apart from Covid-19, fluctuating alert levels and the big question of when we can get takeaways and decent coffee, there's another topic on everyone's lips right now – the high price of groceries at the supermarket.
From paying $6 for a cauliflower, $10 for a packet of sausages, $12 blocks of cheese, and $6 for butter – families are struggling to fill their trolleys and put food on the table without completely blowing the budget.
The issue has become so concerning, last November the Government asked the Commerce Commission to look at whether competition in the $22 billion a year grocery industry was working well and, if not, what could be done to improve it.
A draft commission report released in July confirmed shoppers are forced to pay too much because of a lack of competition in New Zealand.
The watchdog's report found our two major supermarket groups - Woolworths (Countdown) and Foodstuffs (New World and Pak'nSave) - were enjoying profits which were "consistently and materially above what we would expect in a workably competitive market".
"If competition was more effective, retailers would face stronger pressures to deliver the right prices, quality and range to satisfy a diverse range of consumer preferences," Commerce Commission chairwoman Anna Rawlings said.
The Northern Advocate spoke to residents to find the best tips for beating the supermarket blues.
Kerikeri identity Monika Welch, who recently returned from six months on the Gold Coast, said New Zealand food prices are "outrageously expensive" compared to what our friends pay across the ditch.
"When I got back I was annoyed at the price hike in vegetables, and when lockdown happened they seemed to increase again," she said.
"We're paying $5 a lettuce, $5 a cucumber, $5 for leeks, $5 for celery ... everything's $5.
"If you take a lettuce and a cucumber and added carrots, you're looking at a $15 salad.
"It's outrageous and it's wrong and we're getting majorly ripped off here in New Zealand."
Welch, who runs the charity Finkk [Families in Need of Kindness], said she could get a tray of cherries in Australia for a few dollars that usually cost $20 here.
Capsicums were around $1.20 each compared to New Zealand's $3.49, and lettuces were a reasonable $2-3.
Meat and seafood were also significantly cheaper, she said.
"We ate like kings and queens, we ate well.
"You could buy salmon fillets and make beautiful food, we hardly spent much at all.
"When we got back here immediately we felt the pinch.
"I think of these other families with lots of kids, how the hell are they affording anything?
"The supermarkets have gone to war with the people where the average person cannot afford a salad or to buy fresh vegetables."
Welch's top tips for making the budget go further include buying frozen vegetables.
Frozen cauliflower, broccoli, peas, corn and stir-fry mix can be used as and when you need.
Buy reasonably-priced fresh vegetables at small grocers such as the Vegieman in Waipapa or, when they're allowed to open after lockdown, local farmer's markets, she said.
Buying bulk rice "fills tummies" and can also be added to beef up soups, and buying canned food and cooking pasta bakes are more of Welch's suggestions.
"I'll buy a kumara, a few potatoes and a pack of sausages, chop them up and throw them in a roasting dish with vegetables, olive oil, curry powder, salt and pepper and toss it around and bake it. It's big and it fills tummies.
"Or I'll make bacon hock soup; a bacon hock is $6 at moment, and you can use yellow or orange lentils, split peas, anything that bulks up a casserole or stew."
But Welch's biggest tip is to "get some seeds and plants and plant your own".
"If you've never done it before do it now, because this [Covid] will continue and we need to plant our own food supply.
"If you don't know how, join gardening pages or groups; people are happy to share their knowledge."
Oromāhoe father of two and Time Banking and Repair Café advocate Graham Kettle also recommends growing your own vegetables.
Silverbeet, beans, kale, spinach and tomatoes can easily be grown on a small piece of land or in pots.
Perpetual spinach, which is related to silverbeet, is particularly good, he believes.
![Oromahoe dad Graeme Kettle [right], pictured here with Paul Van de water, Anna Wilson and Jane Banfield, has lots of suggestions for spending less on food each week. Photo / Jenny Ling](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/72NP7UKEMPNBTZBJFJW55PM7EI.jpg?auth=702c6b168e88331fdb5fa624b9479be6a96108fc105e4b754590795acaaeffcb&width=16&height=13&quality=70&smart=true)
"It doesn't bolt to seed and you get more off it, it goes for the year. If you're going to get one green to grow in a pot, I'd get perpetual spinach. Kale is really easy to grow too."
Kettle suggests supporting roadside stalls, especially for items like avocados and eggs, which are often better quality and less expensive than supermarkets.
Crop swaps, which bring together backyard gardeners, home bakers and food foragers who share high-quality local food, are brilliant, he said.
There are currently crop swap groups in Te Hiku, Waipapa and Kohukohu.
"You go there and take whatever you've got excess of and you can come back with all sorts of vegetables."
Never go to the supermarket when you're hungry, Kettle said, because "whenever I do that I invariably buy things I don't really need".
"If something's not good for you or is expensive just have a little bit.
"In our household the children like chocolate or icecream but it's not every night, it's just a treat. And just have a small amount.
"We will treat ourselves if we go to the local market. It's a good place to go to buy vegetables and meet the growers. It's a nice family thing to do.
"If you want to save money, a lot of cafes around town do $10 lunch meals, that's really good value.
"That's treating yourself to a restaurant meal and you're still having that whole experience, whereas if you went for dinner, it'd cost your $30 each."
Whangārei Anglican Care Centre budgeting coordinator Dianne Harris said families are saying they can "sort of" afford the basics, but many wonder how to make their money stretch further at the checkout.
Meat is often unaffordable, she said, as are fresh fruit and vegetables, which is why menu planning was so important.
"It means you're going to have to spend a bit of time over your shopping.
"We've got to start thinking differently. Try and do the shopping list before you go and stick with that list.
"You can save around $2000 a year by sticking to a list."
The Anglican Care Centre runs a course called Shop with a List.
Financial mentors have a saying "children take what they are given and ask for what they know they are likely to get".
"It means if our cupboards are always stocked with fizzy drinks and snacks, they'll always ask for it and expect them to be available.
"It's about changing our shopping habits."
Harris recommends making two columns on the shopping list; one for essential items and one for discretionary items.
"Then ask 'what can I take out if I need to'."
Withdrawing money before you go to the supermarket and shopping with cash is another way of ensuring you don't overspend, she said.
Planning meals for the week ahead was key, Harris said.
"If you buy a cabbage for $5, don't use the whole cabbage for one meal.
"With that cabbage, I could have half of it with half of the mince, then add to it.
"Bulk things up, so the rest of the cabbage I can make into a coleslaw, and that can be used in sandwiches."
Using up leftovers and getting the most out of food items is also important, Harris said.
New Zealand households throw away 157,389 tonnes of food a year, according to Love Food Hate Waste New Zealand.
All of this food is worth about $1.17 billion each year.
"Look in the fridge and if you've got wilted vegetables put them in a soup or make a stir fry.
"If you have a chicken meal, make stock out of the carcass.
"Because we rely on convenience foods so much of our planning and thought processes have changed.
"It's getting back to the old-fashioned basics. It's all about bulking up, and being careful too.
"If you're going to buy a bag of potatoes or apples, make sure you've planned what you're going to do with those things."
Beds are the biggest seller due to a shortage of quality beds in the region.