GoingIn2011

I'm off shopping - darn it, this forum has sucked half an hour of my time already tonight, it is strangely enjoyable.

Anyway, sorry to lower the tone but, I can't quite believe the compare shopping trolleys advert they have on at the moment for PNS.

Every time I have been into PNS, it reminds me of shopping in a very poor man's Kwik Save back in the mother land.
More to the point, it's never come across to me as being that much cheaper than Countdown - so I have always shopped there.
My neighbours however swear by the savings. It's got to the stage where I am thinking of doing an on-line comparison of my weekly baskets (specifically mine).

Do any of you lot find PNS significantly cheaper than CD? On the ad, it alludes to a 15% ish saving. I never have found it to be so much cheaper myself. Perhaps, I just can't see past how chite the shop is...

davros1984

We shop in Countdown. Overall we find the quality (especially their chicken and mince meat) to be far higher. Also we find that by shopping online and taking advantage of their bulk buys its cheaper to shop there than Pak and Save. Although I'd say certain branded things are cheaper in PnS.

Snap Shot

I shop in PNS. It's my main supermarket. It's overall cheaper than CD but I couldn't give you specific examples.

There is nothing wrong with PNS quality meat. Well, the PNS I go to anyway. I say the same for their fresh fruit and veg and fish too.

OK, PNS do sell some utter crapola, but, funnily enough, I don't buy that.

Bo-Jangles

There is no contest, P&S will win on price everytime and have done in every consumer survey I have ever seen. I find even the specials in Countdown only just about match the normal prices in P&S.

I usually have a whizz through Countdown and New World, or at least have a gander at the flyers to see if they have anything worthwhile on special that I want from my regular 'must haves' and then get the rest of the bulk in P&S.

Bo-Jangles

PS. I saw that lady beng interviewed outside Pak n Save with the little girl, it was for real.

I think you just have to bite your lip and embrace the surroundings and get on with it, the stuff they have is exactly the same as in New World, the chicken is still Tegel or Turks or whatever brand it is you choose, it's just not lit and presented quite so nicely.

davros1984

We do a 2-weekly shop in Countdown for about $230 (then top up bread and milk through the fortnight). The same shop in PnS comes to around $260. Plus with CD we get it delivered!

Again - all depends on what you buy. Another thing is the own brand stuff. Pams is nowhere near as good quality as CD's own.

I see PnS as the Tesco of here whereas CD more of a Morrisons.

gcr

The fish counter at PNS has always seemed excellent, and their wine and beer is typically cheaper than CD.
We use both. We used New World when we first moved here, but as that is further away now we use it much less. On balance, and without any attempt at a true comparison, I'd say the shop we do at PNS is cheaper.

chocolate cake

Erh? Comparing PnS to Tesco? surely no comparison. Infact it would be disservice to compare any of the UK supermarkets to PnS, the former all offer a better shopping experience.

I also never shop at Pack N Save, perhaps when on holiday and no alternative. They are owner operated like New World, so maybe there are some good ones, but the problem with the NZ supermarkets is the lack of competition, the 2 chains having near 90% of the market.

I shop at Countdown and find the quality better and prices generally competitive with PnS. I also get the fruit &veg, I get from specialist fruit and veg shops, generally much cheaper. No as keen on the butcher chains, the quality of their offerings are generally poorer.

GoingIn2011

For me, PNS is worse than Asda and all of them as you allude to.
CD is roughly Tesco in my estimation...

Tom1983

I prefer to shop at Countdown although sometimes we'll go to New World or Fresh Choice. The problem I find with Pak N Save is the layout. I cannot stand the 3cm alleyways where the products you want are 10 feet high on the stand. Plus one group that stops to chat blocks the whole aisle.

I also don't like that you cannot buy in bulk on a product that's on offer at Pak N Save. When I first got here, I was amazed that they had Oyster Bay on offer for $10 that I wanted to buy 4 bottles. Couldn't believe at the checkout I was only allowed to buy 2. Granted Countdown never have Oyster Bay at that price but the Montana on offer, I topped up on the Sauvignon Blancs and there was no issue of me buying 4 bottles. Of course by all means set a limit, but only 2 purchases - come on!

Oh and the other annoying fact is that Pak N Save (especially at Northlands and Moorhouse Avenue) tend to use this bleach that lasts throughout the whole year. Urgh, thank goodness I don't work there otherwise i'd be puking up all the time.

If the layout, ruling and the bleach were away, i'd happily shop at Pak N Save. Some of the pams brand stuff is really nice for the price you pay. Far beats Asda's own brand disastrous stuff.

In terms of comparison against UK supermarkets, there's no comparison - apart from Waitrose, Netto etc. The giants like Asda, Tesco, Sainsburys have migrated into loads of various markets where as the supermarkets here only offer food and one aisle of other products. I do miss the trip to Tesco as I tend to buy all my stuff from there or M & S back in the day.

jmh

I don't shop at PNS because it's just too big for me. As a single person the savings are not that substantial so I just shop at the local New World. Where I live there are two quite large Countdowns. It's amazing how different they are. One is like a very low quality Tesco in a poor part of the country, the other feels like a nice Sainsburys. These stores are less than a mile from each other. I'm guess therefore that the standard varies depending on where you live.

I must repeat the point already made here, you'll get better prices and quality at local fruit and veg shops.

gcr

I popped into PNS for some stuff this morning, and looked at it with this thread in mind.

I think we have a good 'un. The aisles are wide, but everything is within reach (height wise) - upper shelves are used for stocking. It's clean, doesn't smell... All good. Very much like a bare bones New World. Nothing fancy, just shopping. As jmh has said, the quality of any of the supermarkets varies considerably.

And they have some nice white wine for under $6 a bottle. I only tried to buy 2 bottles, so don't know if I would have been stopped buying more. The 'No Trade' signs are very obvious, though.

downunderpom

I use P 'n' S for Robinsons squash (cordial, if yer a Kiwi!), as I'm addicted to the Summer Fruits! I also get Galaxy and a few other items from the UK section while I'm there. (Mrs DUP's weakness.) Cadbury's chocolate pud, Minstrels, and so on, English tea, Earl Grey, if that's your tipple. All available at P 'n' S. There's also a few online places which provide English 'tuck', so you can get your 'fix', whenever you like.

I usually buy my squash in bulk, getting a couple of cases (24 bottles) at a time. This comes to $92 at P 'n' S. I thought I'd give the new Fresh Choice a chance to gain more of my business, so asked them to get me two cases of the Summer Fruits. They eventually did (took them 3 months....) and they tried to charge me $152. I pointed out that P 'n' S could provide the exact same product for $92. That didn't seem to phase them - it was $152 or sod off. So I sodded off. I have no problem going to a shop which charges 60% of the competition's price, even if it is further away. While I'm there I can pop into Countdown, and get a special on their tins of cat food!

Bellasmum

Very hard to compare Supermarkets and their prices as they an varyquite a lot.

If you want cheap groceries shop in South Auckland

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10870234

Genesis

It is horrible PAS, CD is far more civilised. And you know in Pak and Shove you NEVER get any stuff that is marked 'reduced', you always do in CD. The staff in my local PAS are also pretty much as shitty as the horrible warehouse building itself. There is the occasional nice one but most are like attack dogs with really bad hangovers. Hate the place.