The cost of a loaf of bread: Why this loaf costs $2.99 at one Pak’nSave and $4.99 at another

In Palmerston North lovers of Vogels pay $2.99 a loaf but in Auckland the price varied from $4.29 to $4.99.

The same loaf of bread bought from the same supermarket chain on the same day can cost a staggering 67 per cent more depending on where you are in the country.

Savvy shopper Tony Dickason picked up a loaf of his favourite Vogels toast bread from Pak’nSave Palmerston North late last week and paid $2.99.

Back in Auckland, the same loaf at Pak’nSave Botany cost him $4.29 - a price difference of $1.30.

A quick online shopping search revealed that $4.29 wasn’t even the most the average shopper could pay. At some Pak’nSave stores, the same mixed-grain loaf can cost up to $4.99.

“I was in Palmerston North for work and grabbed a loaf of my usual Vogels for breakfast,” Dickason said.

“Then back in Auckland I bought another and realised the huge price difference. It is the exact same product at the same supermarket. Both were at the normal price and neither were on special.”

The same loaf of mixed-grain Vogels was priced at $4.99 at Countdown and New World.

Dickason said Auckland consumers in particular were hit hard by the cost of living crisis, especially with healthier food options.

“I really feel for some families with the cost of living crisis, food prices and rising interest rates,” he said.

“The more we talk about food prices and are more aware of what we are being charged the better.”

The cheapest loaf of bread across all supermarkets was a standard white loaf. This ranged from $1.69 for Gold Max at Pak’nSave, $1.25 for Essential brand at Countdown and $1.19 for the Value brand sold at New World.

This week mum Rotorua Kelly Albrecht told the Herald it was unfortunately cheaper to buy a six-pack of pies for lunches rather than making healthier ham, egg and tomato sandwiches.

Her sports-loving children had sacrificed one sport each so the family could afford to keep up with increasing mortgage repayments.

The latest annual food price data from Stats NZ shows food prices rose 8 per cent in the year to September but were finally starting to slowly decline.

Foodstuffs spokeswoman Emma Wooster told the Herald: “Our teams at the Foodstuffs co-ops are highly focused on fighting inflation and we’re proud to have collectively kept our prices below Stat’s NZ’s Food Price Index basket for more than 17 months in a row now.

“Pak’nSave, New World and Four Square stores are part of the NZ-owned Foodstuffs co-operatives. Each store is owned and operated by a local grocer and the store owners have the flexibility within their business to lower the price on specific products in their store to suit the needs of their community.

“PaK’nSave consistently delivers New Zealand’s lowest prices and in this case the owner of PaK’nSave Palmerston North chose to lower the price on Vogels for their local customers.”