Pak'n Save Country's Cheapest Supermarket

Pak'n Save Country's Cheapest Supermarket

Pak'n Save is once again the country's cheapest supermarket, Consumer NZ said today.

The only supermarket to beat Pak'n Save prices was Christchurch New World thanks to a vigorous coupon campaign. It is the 11th year in a row Pak'n Save has been the country's cheapest supermarket.

Pak'n Save in Lower Hutt was the cheapest at $116. Foodtown in Auckland's Pakuranga was the most expensive at $146. However, there were variations in baskets between cities. In Wellington and Auckland Pak'n Save was $18 cheaper than its closest rival New World.

"Price competition is increasingly a struggle for second place between New World and Countdown - with both chains' normal prices often differing by less than five cents," said Chetwin.

"Our undercover shoppers bought from a list of 40 top-selling items including bread (the supermarkets' lead product for both value and volume), biscuits, milk, fizzy drinks, catfood and butter. Personal care and cleaning products also featured," Chetwin said. Wine was excluded because discounts were so huge that a supermarket with a listed wine on special would have an unfair advantage.

For most items a brand was specified but for basics like flour, butter and milk, the shoppers were asked to buy the cheapest.

Chetwin says for the first time shoppers took account of multi-buys which offer lower prices if you buy more than one item - for example three cans of baked beans for $5. "Multi-buys have become widespread, in one store five items on our shopping list were discounted this way. And they were worth it. In Christchurch New World, two packs of frozen peas cost only $4.99 ($2.50 each). The lowest price found for a single pack in Christchurch was $3.29 and that was on special!"

Two well-known names are also disappearing from our surveys. In Napier and Dunedin we now report on only three supermarkets as Woolworths has been converted into Countdown. In time Foodtown will also become Countdown.

There are two players in the supermarket game. Foodstuffs consists of three regional co-operatives of owner-operated stores including New World and Pak'n Save. Progressive Enterprises runs the Woolworths, Foodtown and Countdown chains, and the Fresh Choice franchise.

Full survey results can be seen online at www.consumer.org.nz or in the August issue of Consumer magazine.

Five tips for top shopping:

Take a list and stick to it

Take advantage of multi-buys or stock up on other specials, even if you don't need them immediately

Take advantage of discounts offered in store loyalty programmes - Fly Buys or OneCard

Check the unit prices of items - larger items or quantities are not always cheaper

Don't be tempted by end-of-aisle promotions unless you were intending to buy the product anyway

ENDS

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