Pak'nSave voted cheapest food store

Pak'nSave have won the Consumer NZ title of being New Zealand's cheapest supermarket. Photo / Christine Cornege

Supermarket chain Pak'nSave has again been voted New Zealand's cheapest supermarket, Consumer NZ says.

Secret shoppers were dispatched into supermarkets up and down the country under orders to shop from a list of 40 top-selling items including bread, biscuits, milk, fizzy drinks, cat food and butter.

Personal care and cleaning products also featured, though 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.

It is the eleventh consecutive year Pak'nSave has been the country's cheapest supermarket.

Pak'nSave 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'nSave was $18 cheaper than its closest rival, New World.

The only individual supermarket to beat Pak'nSave prices was Christchurch New World, thanks to a vigorous coupon campaign.

Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin said the results showed 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."

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

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

Staff reporter