NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Consumer Watch: Tuck in ... and pay up

Herald on Sunday
29 Mar, 2014 03:15 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The average global price of eight breakfast staples rose almost 25% this year. Photo / Thinkstock

The average global price of eight breakfast staples rose almost 25% this year. Photo / Thinkstock

International price rises are taking a big bite as the cost of a Kiwi breakfast soars

The cost of feeding your family a cooked weekend breakfast rose by almost 7 per cent over the past five years - and the price increases aren't likely to stop.

The Financial Times reported last week that the average global price of eight breakfast staples had risen almost 25 per cent this year.

The increases mainly affected coffee, orange juice, wheat, sugar, milk, butter, cocoa and pork.

We decided to create a Kiwi version of the Financial Times story and Statistics NZ food price figures reveal New Zealand families are not exempt from the trend.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

If you served tomatoes, mushrooms, bacon, toast, eggs, tinned spaghetti and cereal, with coffee, tea and orange juice this weekend, it would have cost you 6.9 per cent more than the same meal in 2008, and almost 3 per cent more than in 2012.

Over the past five years, the compound average annual rate of inflation was 2.1 per cent.

But a 100g packet of instant coffee has increased in price by 9 per cent over that time.

Tea bags have become a lot more expensive — up more than 25 per cent on 2008.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A loaf of bread is now 11 per cent more expensive than it was in 2008.

Dairy prices are being boosted by high demand in emerging markets. The ANZ commodity price index shows cheese prices at a six-year high. Butter is at a 2-year high and the price rose 6 per cent in one month.

Statistics NZ's figures showed the price of milk rose more than 11 per cent between 2012 and last year.

One overseas problem Kiwis don't have is rising pork prices.

Discover more

Lifestyle

Consumer Watch: Cafe mark-up not a wind-up

02 Mar 12:46 AM
Banking and finance

Mortgage poser looming

01 Mar 04:30 PM
Lifestyle

Think it's on special? Check again

08 Mar 04:30 PM
New Zealand

Plug in to cheaper power

08 Mar 07:19 PM

American pork prices have been affected by a virus epidemic that has pushed Chicago pork prices up 40 per cent. But in New Zealand, bacon's price has dropped from $21.99 a kilo in 2008 to $21.10 last year.

Of the breakfast foods surveyed, bacon and breakfast biscuits — such as Weetbix — were the only items that had become cheaper.

Economist Gareth Kiernan said New Zealand food prices were affected by international commodity prices. Even events such as the Ukraine unrest have pushed up wheat prices, and wheat and cocoa could become more expensive if the weather pattern El Nino triggers drought in important production areas.

Kiernan said the higher New Zealand dollar had helped take some of the sting out of the milk price strength for New Zealand consumers but it might not last. He said there was a big jump in dairy prices in 2008, but they then fell quite sharply before rising again in 2010.

"There has been renewed upwards price pressure in supermarkets in the past six months for milk and yoghurt, and there's still a bit of that to come through."

International coffee prices are up more than 70 per cent because of dry weather in Brazil.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In February, the price of coffee on commodities markets went up 20 per cent in two weeks.

Mild Arabica coffee was trading on the commodity markets for US$1.76 ($2.03) a pound (453g) in February, up from US$1.35 in January.

But commodities specialist Tim Kronfeld, of broker OMF, said Kiwi coffee drinkers did not have to panic too much about the cost of their favourite brew.

"The price had a big blow off, but it's now settled back a bit."

He said competition would keep a lid on coffee prices to a certain extent — and distributors had a bit of a buffer as they had not passed on drops in the price of coffee over recent years.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Entertainment

Lorde announces new world tour - but snubs NZ

08 May 08:14 PM
Travel

Air NZ's premium economy v Skycouch: Which is the winner?

08 May 07:00 PM
Lifestyle

‘I guess I'm a bit obsessed’: Minions collector sets world record

08 May 05:55 AM

Sponsored: Top tier tiles - faux or refresh

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Lorde announces new world tour - but snubs NZ

Lorde announces new world tour - but snubs NZ

08 May 08:14 PM

The tour kicks off on September 17 in Austin, Texas.

Air NZ's premium economy v Skycouch: Which is the winner?

Air NZ's premium economy v Skycouch: Which is the winner?

08 May 07:00 PM
‘I guess I'm a bit obsessed’: Minions collector sets world record

‘I guess I'm a bit obsessed’: Minions collector sets world record

08 May 05:55 AM
How the sheer dress trend is making waves on the red carpet

How the sheer dress trend is making waves on the red carpet

08 May 03:02 AM
Sponsored: How much is too much?
sponsored

Sponsored: How much is too much?

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP