TommyLuck

Get up - we're all equal here!!

bearskin

I'd agree that if you have the time to make items that are easy to find pre-made, pre-packaged, such as Hummous, or pesto for example, from scratch that it will certainly help the food bill. Also, it makes sense to me that when tomatoes are 99c a kilo, or a pumpkin is a dollar, that that is what you eat (more of).

I find that there is always something interesting to eat that is a good price in NZ. It's usually of the vegetable variety rather than meat, fish or dairy though.

However, I do confess to the occasional Domino's pizza when they are $4-5 a go.

davros1984

Well,its almost an identical basic shop to what I would do in NZ and the price difference is staggering, sure you can refuse to believe that.

No pork pies, what I bought was primarily fresh meat,fruit and veges. I would disagree on sandwich meat not being nourishing, you can buy really nice ham or beef over the counter.

Fingers crossed I get the job I interviewed for on Weds so that I dont have to stick to such a brutal budget.

The Weezer

Living in NZ it's easy to forget that outside these islands you actually can get very good sandwich meat. We'll be going on our annual exodus overseas next week. So looking forward to proper sliced roast beef and affordable imported Italian cold cuts. The deli meats you get in supermarkets here isn't very good, or if you look around, the somewhat better stuff is insanely expensive at places like Farro's.

Good luck with the job! I do think, though, limiting yourself to simple, nourishing foods and only spending the minimum is a good thing, for a while at least. I have no doubt you were able to feed yourself on the budget you mentioned. I went to Tesco's online and had a look. I think all the basic supplies (veg., grain, meat) were much cheaper than in NZ.

TommyLuck

In your calculations are you allowing for the fact that many vegetables and fruits are seasonally priced in NZ - much less of this goes on at Tesco where Tomatoes taste of nothing for 3/4's of the year.

Also, don't buy your meat at a supermarket in NZ. It's all very well comparing the price of meat at say New World v. Tesco, but meat is also available elsewhere other than a supermarket too. As is the fresh produce.

Blade Down Under

Have you tried the Mediterannean Food Company? I don't know if they deliver online or not

I bought some Salame Napoli, well $10 worth which was just short of 200g. Is that expensive or a bargain?

They lie about Chorizos, I was disappointed when going to select some chorizo, it came from Australia. A Spanish chorizo only, they know how to make them proper - not the Aussies.

The Weezer

There's plenty of out of season produce sold here. Lots of imported stuff. And lots of tasteless tomatoes, imported, sold out of season. Tesco's doesn't alter prices when produce is in season? Fresh berries cost the same year round, regardless of season?

I buy some of my meat in the supermarket because it's more convenient. Anyway, lots of butchers sell the same brands of chicken, for example, as are sold in the supermarket. Again, they're pumped full of water. I'm not talking about Mad Butchers either. Can't find affordable turkey, no matter where you look.

So we should be comparing the local butcher's meat, not supermarket meat prices.

I know there are lots of produce shops out there, which are sometimes cheaper than the supermarket. Many of them are less likely to sell organic produce, or have a limited offering. There are a few organic/wholefoods kinds of stores but again, most of their stuff is very expensive, and can't go too often as it's inconvenient. I think one of the chains offers delivery, though.

On the topic of food, NZ doesn't seem to be a particularly good place to live if you enjoy cooking lots of different things, unless it's Asian stuff. There are so many things I can't get here, or if I can, are just too expensive. I'm not talking about my ethnic foods from home, either. I've only ever found proper San Marzano canned plum tomatoes in the super expensive fancy shops like Farro's. Which is also the only place I can find celeriac, which I only bought once, and it was too woody, as no one buys it, it's so expensive it just sits around past prime. Never see fresh plum tomatoes, rarely kale, never collard greens, the different kinds of capsicums, apart from the "bell" form and some chilies, Jerusalem artichoke, different kinds of mushrooms, fresh cranberries.... Actually there's so much produce you can't get here, or is insanely expensive, I forget what exists out there. When I visit my family overseas, I get reminded what a lot of variety of things there out there to eat.

What I miss most is reasonably priced blueberries, in season. Also miss picking wild blueberries, but that's another story.

You can make good food here, if you're inclined, but from my perspective, the options are more limited, relatively. It certainly can be expensive to limit yourself to butchery meat and mostly organic produce. I'm sure this is not surprising, but thought it would be interesting to discuss in more detail for those than don't live in NZ.

The Weezer

Thanks for the tip.

I haven't found good proper Spanish chorizo. You're right, what I've seen is Australian imported Italian meats. Better than most Kiwi made, but not quite what I'd been hoping for.

There is a butcher in Manurewa, a Hungarian gentleman who's been making sausages for years. He sells mostly to high end restaurant but also sells out of the shop he runs out of his home. He makes a tasty chorizo style sausage. I'm not quite sure he's still around, as I haven't been in at least five years. Also, I haven't tried any, but the Howick market on Sat. mornings has some local sausage makers selling cured sausages. I'm sure you can look around and maybe find something ok, but again, it won't be cheap.

Mark Smith

This lads pretty good, tried them at the Riccarton Bush market. He sells them across Chch amd supplies a few places on the north island. Mariano's Spanish Goods

Pom_Chch

Since moving to NZ I have changed my shopping habits a little. But really I eat similar things to what I did in the UK and my shopping bill is not a huge amount higher in cost. My partner and I really enjoy cooking and I wouldn't say that we are at a disadvantage, if anything we cook with fresher produce. Ohhh and the steak here So good and much cheaper! We cook a variety of different cuisines - Mexican (can't do without fajitas!), Thai, Indian, Spanish...

I would say I spent about 50GBP per week in the UK for two people and about $120 in NZ. The things I've knocked on the head here would be bacon as I find it too expensive to eat on a weekly basis and fancy cheese is more of a treat than a regular occurrence. Not a big deal to me. In fact I have lost 3kg since living here, perhaps the lack of bacon and cheese is a good thing

In regards to getting European foods like San Marzano tomatoes, of course they're going to be expensive here! You will either a) not be able to get them at all b) only be able to get them in specialist places or c) be really expensive if you do find them. Do what we do and make them yourself - even better!

bearskin

Do you a local market you can visit that offers fresh produce? Particularly the kind of stuff that would be typically found in a 'Farmers Market'? I can only refer to me locality, where the Sunday Market in Browns Bay - although only a "General Market" would often have a great variety of fresh produce for sale. And, to be fair, if I wanted to drive over to the Takapuna Sunday Market, then the options are even better - including the ability to have a stroll around the general area which includes the Westfield Mall and the beach afterwards.

Thinking back to the produce I saw on Sunday - and bearing in mind that this is the middle of winter and not a particularly nice stretch of weather either - there was a stall selling some Cherimoya and a range of chillis; another with very nice looking huge flat mushrooms and cavolo nero kale; plus the stalls with a dozen types of 'asian' greens, the artisan bakery, at least 5 stalls selling free range eggs and four or five general vege stalls.

BEVS

Yes.
It is very hard and expensive to access organic free range meat of any sort here unless you go shoot it yourself. Freedom farm brand may be close. I have to hope.
Same for fruit and vege unless you grow it yourself.

The butchers here tend to sell the same as can be found in the supermarkets. They seem to source from the exact same farm producers.

The fruit and vege shops is the same produce as in the supermarkets.

You can spend to drive to a farm stall but likely it will have been sprayed or not first quality , so not for supermarkets or export.

Most tomatoes here are grown year long in greenhouses and hydroponically. There is a very small selection of producers that produce toms grown outside and seasonal. So why is it that prices alter so much when NZ is producing toms all year round. Ah ! Yis ! Exports first.

TommyLuck

All I can say for certain, is that I have pretty much the same shopping list in NZ than I did in the UK and the overall price is comparable.


The problem NZ creates for its self in this debate is that it tries to accommodate all us bloody POMS who want this, that and the other from 'back home' - they've managed some of it and of what they have done, most of which is either expensive or lacking in quality. Or, both.


I've made an effort to change my shopping behaviours since arriving in New Zealand, I shop around a bit more and I now know where I can get what at the best price and when. It seems to be what the locals do.

Yes my eyes to water a little when I see four half pieces of corn on the cob for $8.99 in New World.

But then Fruit World were flogging whole cobs off for $0.99 or 3 for $1.99 not that long ago and for a good few months.


Seasonal shopping is key here in NZ. It's what the locals do and in the UK were we're afforded the luxury of getting many items out of season, with not that much of a premium put on it - we were spoilt for choice. The UK has a market of so many more people to sell to, profit margins are much, much easier to exploit. Deals can be offered more readily as the footfall in shops will always be that much higher.

We are not spoiled for choice in NZ, but we do have choice nonetheless and if anything the investigating of such has been a revelation for me, cooking with foods I can't even pronounce half the time!

One thing though - Green Lipped Mussels - they might be huge, but they are flavourless.

Size isn't everything NZ.

And the Whitebait here is a cruel trick. My Whitebait as a kid had eyes and a tail!!

BEVS

You'll see IFIFY but to be fair I've not seen much of that at all , although supermarkets are beginning to have 'international' sections.

Up your way maybe . What they do around here is buy whatever is cheap regardless. For the most part , that appears to mean mass grocery shops from Push and Shove in Richmond.


Tiz so.


As before , tomatoes here are not seasonal. They are grown year round.

TommyLuck

My original reference to Tomatoes was in relation to the UK, where tomatoes need a shed load of seasoning to taste half decent for most of the year.