[BaldyBeardyBloke]

As part of my current job (supporting people with intellectual difficulties living idependantly) I get involved a lot with shopping on very limited budgets.

As a result I get to go to most of the major supermarkets fairly often and the cost of food is always a talking point amongst the staff generally.

Lately the 'word on the street' has been that New World (traditionally seen as relatively expensive) has got a lot cheaper in recent weeks.

Now, I helped a household of three plus one staff (i.e. four adults) shop for a week in Pak n Save on Wednesday night. I also needed to do the shopping at home today for a week (2 adults, 2 kids) so went to New World.

I reckon that we bought roughly the same amount of stuff and taking off the $20 for a new tin opener and a big bottle of orange squash which I reckon would skew the figures it came to within $5 of the same cost.

Now, this was hardly a closely monitored scientific experiment, obviously, and the range of purchases wasn't identical, but it was broadly similar, I have to say I was surprised to find that indeed New World appears to be pretty competitive at present.

Also given that (for me) New World is a lot closer and (imho) a much nicer shopping experience (they pack your bags, gave me a free chocolate, free coffee and 6c off petrol voucher - 4c at PnS) it makes NW a winner for me this week.

The same 'word on the street' reckons that Countdown have gone the opposite way and are now quite expensive. I have no reference to prove or disprove that one.

So, whether it's a sign of the global credit crunch or not I have no idea, but interesting nonetheless.

Just thought you all might be interested.

Triple-B your roving consumer reporter

[Kerry and David]

Would agree with you. I tried Pak and Save last week and ended up spending more than I did at New World and like you NW is just down the road so they have the thumbs up from me at the moment. (my opinion of course;))

[sizzlingbadger]

We have found NW here are definitely cheaper now than Pak 'n' Save, yesterday was our best shop in a while and we picked up a few extras :nice1 Only trouble for us is our petrol voucher is only valid in Masterton which is the opposite direction to home ! ! Good job the local garage takes our petrol voucher even if it is 4 cents off maximum.

Used to find Woolworths very expensive, only been in once in the last 6 mths to the Masterton one and found it to be a nightmare layout, definitely wouldn't want to shop in there every week, some things were way over priced as well :uhoh compared to PnS and NW.

[wilson182]

Hmmm Interesting. I normally shop at Countdown, but now I'm wondering whether to try New World. Just my luck though, I will get stuck with a huge shopping bill :wah Anyone got any comments on the NW at Rangiora?

[Moorf]

I use NW in Rangiora, or if I fancy a drive with different scenery I go to the Rolleston one. I like both and although it's roughly the same time to go to Countdown I've found it to be a wee bit more expensive (probably to pay for the new refit!!).

I also found stuff in Binn Inn Rangiora to be more expensive than in NW in some instances - olive oil for one.

The only thing that annoys me about NW is they often have a really bad selection of fresh fish... or am I just shopping on the wrong days...

[lockstock]

...a much nicer shopping experience (they pack your bags, gave me a free chocolate, free coffee

Triple-B your roving consumer reporter


Free chocolates. free coffee??? What did you have to do for that?

At Pak'n'save you get free cardboard boxes and you get to juggle trolleys at the checkout.:D

[Moorf]

In NW's there's often a pot of free fresh coffee on the go... not sure all of them have it - Rangiora defintely does. You just help yourself.. milk and sugar also provided!

[wilson182]

I use NW in Rangiora, or if I fancy a drive with different scenery I go to the Rolleston one. I like both and although it's roughly the same time to go to Countdown I've found it to be a wee bit more expensive (probably to pay for the new refit!!).

I also found stuff in Binn Inn Rangiora to be more expensive than in NW in some instances - olive oil for one.

The only thing that annoys me about NW is they often have a really bad selection of fresh fish... or am I just shopping on the wrong days...


Do you mean you have found Countdown to be a wee bit more expensive. I would probably prefer to use NW cause I can get flybuys (I do have a onecard which can be used at Countdown - but would rather flybuys)

[Familyofmonkeys]

The only thing that annoys me about NW is they often have a really bad selection of fresh fish... or am I just shopping on the wrong days...

Ok so we don't buy fish, but we have noticed a definite difference in the availability of fresh fruit and veg, fresh dips and bin bags depending on what day we shop.

The above comments are interesting because we did one of our very occasional trips to Countdown last week to stock up on a few items we can't get in NW.....5kg bags brown bread flour, 5kg bags basmati rice, 1kg blocks of vegetarian cheese, and a few signature range items that are generally cheaper in Countdown than our local Foodtown like sun dried tomatos, pesto and also veggie sausages. Much to our surprise these items were significantly more expensive so we didn't end up buying anything apart from the flour, rice and cheese (and only because we can't get those things elsewhere). The countdown in question has also had a fancy new refit :confused:

[Moorf]

Do you mean you have found Countdown to be a wee bit more expensive.

Recently, yes :yes always used Countdown before as was on OH's way back from work..

[shakyle2906]

I normally do shopping at Countdown and have found lately not getting too much stuff for what i am paying.

I love NW but always spend a small fortune then come home and cry cos ive overspent.............. too many nice things. Have seen the coffee pot but never tried!

Pak n Save is nice but always manic here whatever time you go!

Sharon
x

[Familyofmonkeys]

Another observation of ours is that a lot of the items on scoop are now more expensive that the prepacked stuff. We have recently gone back to buying things like raisins, ground almonds, pine nuts, lentils, dried cranberries etc from the baking isle. This isn't just something we noticed in NZ because the prices of scoop stuff has also gone up a lot in countdown and foodtown too.

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

One observation I forgot to mention

1 Kg of prime beef mince, pre-packed in the chiller, todays date on packaging $14.99

1 Kg of prime beef mince from the meat counter $16.99

Weird?

[veronica]

My order of preference fav first has to be New world, countdown, paknsave then last woolworths. Often use Raeward Fresh for fruit and veg. not as cheap perhaps but always good.
I have always found that the meat in New world is better than the meat in Paknsave although like the others have said in the past I have found new world more expensive than Pak and save.
Pak and save frustrates me as it always has a limited choice compared to the others and I always price check the stuff I buy there. Often have to buy sugar for example for the backpackers hostel and most often I find its cheaper to buy a few smaller bags than one of the biggest ones. Since noticing that I now check the prices between the different sizes of a lot of things and its surprising how often the bigger version works out more expensive. opposite to what I would have thought.

[pinkpiggy]

and most often I find its cheaper to buy a few smaller bags than one of the biggest ones. Since noticing that I now check the prices between the different sizes of a lot of things and its surprising how often the bigger version works out more expensive. opposite to what I would have thought.

Yes I've noticed this too. It's often the same when they have something on special. They usually only have one size not both sizes on offer and I have to remember to check this first. Cereals are a prime example.

[melly]

Have a look at this survey/research done by consumer magazine (report from NZ herald):

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10532552

It's verdict was Woolies is cheapest.

[IanW99]

Have a look at this survey/research done by consumer magazine (report from NZ herald):

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10532552

It's verdict was Woolies is cheapest.

It's verdict was that in Auckland if you want to buy home brand products then Woolies was the cheapest!

Ian

[melly]

ok, so with this kind of research it isn't really applicable to name the specific supermarket which is cheapest. But it might be helpful to look at the trends it discovered:


Pak n Save don't offer as many generic items as the other supermarkets. So if you like to buy generic pak n save probably isn't going to be the cheapest.
Woolworths, Foodtown and Countdown were within a $1 of each other for the total cost. So although on any one week, or any particular suburb you might find/think that one of these is cheaper than another, overall it probably isn't that great of a difference, so probably not worth driving out of your way to go to one of them over the others.
The Woolworths/Foodtown/Countdown group was cheaper than the Pak n Save/New World group.


The shopping experience is also more complicated that just how much you pay at the check out, so in my opinion I don't think price is the only thing that you should consider when choosing where to shop (I'd like the idea of one that serves free coffee).

[gil]

In NW's there's often a pot of free fresh coffee on the go... not sure all of them have it - Rangiora defintely does. You just help yourself.. milk and sugar also provided!

How does that work? When do you drink it? Is it in a mug or a takeaway cup or is there an area to sit and drink it? As I usually do it on a Friday after work, I wouldn't feel inclined to stop for a coffee before shopping, definitely not during, and once I've got the shopping I just want to get it home!

Gil