Originally Posted by Robbie2010

In NZ you buy when its cheap! ... Last week 1.5 litre coca cola & fanta etc = 99cents, I got a trolly full.

Originally Posted by janek

You really have to be on the ground in the supermarkets here to get a real feel of it though, scanning Woolworths on the internet is misleading, I don't drink Coke but I stocked up on the 1.5 ltre range of Shweppes drinks last week at Countdown; 95 cents a bottle, I've been back here 6 years now but I didn't find that too bad a price, rump steak $10.95 kg, might have been Australian though for that price. Buying on 'special' is the name of the game here, gone are the days of swanning around Asdas and throwing anything and everything in a cart, what a mindless existence that was;
I find the fruit and veg here from the local market to be of excellent quality and flavour [ i couldn't care less about the shape, it does not affect the taste] however I did buy apples from the USA in Countdown last week and they were completely without flavour, horrible and expensive of course, in my book the further it travels the more tasteless it becomes.

I love that term 'class system of food,' we have it here a bit too but only at the lower class end!! NZ has no equivalent to Tesco 'finest' yet! How pretentious.

Originally Posted by Robbie2010

Where are you shopping? ... Today at local supermarket organic milk 2L for $4.

Originally Posted by lisamct

$3.77 for 1.13lts here in Countdown.

Originally Posted by crap coffee

$4.95 here in Welly Metro NW. and $ 5. 50 (at Wakefied NW) or something - don't quite remember tho.

Originally Posted by janek

You really have to be on the ground in the supermarkets here to get a real feel of it though, scanning Woolworths on the internet is misleading, I don't drink Coke but I stocked up on the 1.5 ltre range of Shweppes drinks last week at Countdown; 95 cents a bottle, I've been back here 6 years now but I didn't find that too bad a price, rump steak $10.95 kg, might have been Australian though for that price. Buying on 'special' is the name of the game here, gone are the days of swanning around Asdas and throwing anything and everything in a cart, what a mindless existence that was;
I find the fruit and veg here from the local market to be of excellent quality and flavour [ i couldn't care less about the shape, it does not affect the taste] however I did buy apples from the USA in Countdown last week and they were completely without flavour, horrible and expensive of course, in my book the further it travels the more tasteless it becomes.

I love that term 'class system of food,' we have it here a bit too but only at the lower class end!! NZ has no equivalent to Tesco 'finest' yet! How pretentious.

Originally Posted by lisamct

The huge difference in food costs here is one of the biggest shocks Ive had since coming here.
I only ever ate organic free range meet/dairy products in the UK and simply cant afford to do that here, the cost, if you can find organic free range stuff to start with, is ridiculous.
I hate shopping here as I know I'll have to buy farmed chicken and non free range/organic milk etc as I cant afford or cant find anything else.

I dont really eat red meat which probably doesnt help as I'm told its pretty cheap but the lack of choice and quality has really surprised me. I'm yet to find the super tasty fruit etc that I keep hearing about.
I buy my fruit from the local market but still find it pretty tasteless and bland compared to the fruit I'm used to in the UK. maybe its the organic vs. non organic thing..who knows!

I admit I'm rubbish at shopping around although I do use the local market for fruit/veg but I cant seem to get my shopping bill to be any less than 50% more than it was in the UK and thats buying inferior products and looking for all the offers. Guess its just something I have to get used to if I want to keep living here.

Originally Posted by keyholekate

What about Woolworth's 'Signature Range'?

Originally Posted by lisamct

The huge difference in food costs here is one of the biggest shocks Ive had since coming here.
I only ever ate organic free range meet/dairy products in the UK and simply cant afford to do that here, the cost, if you can find organic free range stuff to start with, is ridiculous.
I hate shopping here as I know I'll have to buy farmed chicken and non free range/organic milk etc as I cant afford or cant find anything else.

I dont really eat red meat which probably doesnt help as I'm told its pretty cheap but the lack of choice and quality has really surprised me. I'm yet to find the super tasty fruit etc that I keep hearing about.
I buy my fruit from the local market but still find it pretty tasteless and bland compared to the fruit I'm used to in the UK. maybe its the organic vs. non organic thing..who knows!

I admit I'm rubbish at shopping around although I do use the local market for fruit/veg but I cant seem to get my shopping bill to be any less than 50% more than it was in the UK and thats buying inferior products and looking for all the offers. Guess its just something I have to get used to if I want to keep living here.

Originally Posted by Robbie2010

In NZ you buy when its cheap! ... Last week 1.5 litre coca cola & fanta etc = 99cents, I got a trolly full.

Originally Posted by dannigirl

Oh for sure, just using an example of everyday prices though.

Originally Posted by Genesis

Recently been to the UK. Food shopping is so cheap in comparison to NZ. The choice is sooooooooo huge and the quality excellent. There are far less crap ingredients in UK food too. Problem is lack of competition in NZ for the 3/4 food suppliers. I am sure they have a cartel thingy going on in NZ. By contrast the many big food chains in the UK are in a great price war and the main winner is the consumer. Example 350g of top quality smoked salmon in UK is $8..yes eight dollars..or 4 pounds. 100g of the same but never as nice is $8 in NZ!!!!!!!!! What with the crap rate and a shocker on the supermarket front awaiting new arrivals it is a wonder anyone is prepared to move to NZ just now. I was back in the UK also in 2007 having moved out of the UK in 2005. The price difference than was no way as big as it is now between UK and NZ shopping trollies.

Caveat emptor!! UK is still madly over crowded, rubbish and dog shit EVERYWHERE..even in pretty Devon villages. Would still not return to England as I still feel that inspite of being ripped off every time I go shopping in NZ it affords us a higher quality life. And of course house prices are an issue too in the UK. The value of our capacious detatched shed would get us a well appointed double garage in the UK. Inspite of the UK housing market tumbling houses here are still very, very expensive.

Originally Posted by BEVS

Off topic post.

Just wanted to say what a smashing avatar that is. Have some smashing avatar karma.

Originally Posted by Persia

I'd forgotten how difficult it was to get organic, free range food in New Zealand. Here I go to an organic farmers market every week for whatever's in season and buy free range eggs and other organic produce from the supermarkets.

People back in NZ bemoan the fact that we don't get NZ apples over here, to be honest I don't miss them at all. Not just because of the taste thing but because I simply don't trust the way they throw chemicals around the orchards over there, plus there's the food miles to take into consideration.

If you're content to eat pie and chips / fish and chips you'll eat well in NZ. That's the staple diet.

Originally Posted by jayandbill

My weekly shop in Tauranga takes 2 hours because the weekly price differentials mean I have to pay attention to what's on offer. The price of fresh salmon for example can fluctuate from one week to the next between $19 and $27 per kilo and that's a huge difference. Smoke salmon is rarely cheap, that much is true. so when items are expensive I don't buy them. Having been here in NZ a year and kept records of my spending I've found that on balance I spend no more than in the UK, and that includes 4 bottles, or a box, of wine and a 12 pack of beer, on my weekly shop. It's swings and roundabouts. I have noticed though that there are bigger weekly fluctuations on individual items than in the UK, sometimes by 50%, which is why it takes longer to shop. The point about crap in the prepared foods is true. I always read labels and there are far more preservatives and 'e' numbers in food here than in UK products, so much so that it's hard to find anything that is simply basic ingredients. As for household goods, all the big stores have a sale every week, a source of amusement to us but we only shop when the sales are on. But I wouldn't go back to the UK to live for quids