Auckland student Maluhola Moala (inset) won a $10,000 grocery giveaway by using the Appetise app. Composite photo / NZ Herald
South Auckland business student Maluhola Moala knows all about dollars and cents as she works her way to becoming an accountant.
But she doesn’t have to worry about food prices – for a while – after winning a $10,000 grocery giveaway by using a free app she said saves her time and money on meals.
The 19-year-old Auckland University of Technology (AUT) student had been using the Appetise grocery app for two months when her name was drawn as the winner in the $10,000 March giveaway.
The app lets shoppers compare prices across Pak’nSave, Woolworths and New World supermarkets in real time.
The price of food items such as cheese, butter and milk has soared over the past two years alongside beef, mince and steak, and economists predict the cost of living will rise by 50% more than previously anticipated over the next 12 months.
Moala, in her second year of business studies, lives with her parents and five siblings in South Auckland and is thankful for her good fortune.
“I am very very thankful,” Moala said.
“I’m still quite shocked because I watched the live draw on Instagram.
“I know receiving the vouchers has taken pressure off my mum and dad. Times are tough but the vouchers have certainly helped us out.”
The family say they have saved between $100 and $150 a week by utilising the Appetise app.
Moala said the app was easy to navigate and because she cooks four times a week, between her studies and working part-time, she can grab what she needs from the supermarkets.
“I can look up recipes and it will show which supermarkets have the best prices, plus if I have some of the ingredients at home, the app will take those ingredients away, which saves money,” she said.
Christchurch couple Elise and Toby Hilliam developed the Appetise app and said it was designed and launched in 2022 to save people money and time.
Toby Hilliam told the Herald grocery prices were “one of the biggest pain points for New Zealand families right now”.
It was a free app, with no subscriptions, and he said it helped its users “stretch their dollar further and put good food on the table”.
“We partner with food brands who want to better understand what people are cooking at home and what they’re looking for in the supermarket,” Hilliam said.
“Essentially, we sit at this really interesting intersection of food, recipes, and shopping behaviour, and brands find that valuable. But the app itself will always be free for consumers. That’s non-negotiable for us.”
App users also had access to thousands of recipes, step-by-step meal plans and suggested shopping lists.
Hilliam said Appetise had more than 150,000 subscribers, including 70,000 in New Zealand and 80,000 in Australia.
“We have direct integrations with all major supermarkets across Australia and New Zealand. Once you’ve planned your meals, you can send your shopping list straight through to your supermarket and check out online. It’s completely seamless,” he said.
The app is rated 4.6 out of 5 on online review platform Trustpilot.
Hilliam said Appetise would soon launch a feature allowing users to create lists of items they regularly purchase and they would then be notified when such products were on special offer.
A Consumer NZ spokesperson told the Herald that Appetise was similar to another app on the market, as well as supermarket loyalty cards.
While it might highlight specials on the supermarket shelves, users had to be aware that once they joined an incentivised scheme they were signing away their shopping data.
“The way these incentives make money is they are using data and they sell to consumer goods centres,” the Consumer NZ spokesperson said.
“That’s where companies... can see what goods are on demand and to an extent what price points they can charge.”
Consumer NZ carried out a supermarket loyalty card probe last year and found three times out of four that prices at the time were cheaper at other stores, such as The Warehouse and Pak’nSave, the spokesperson said.
“The best advice is, shop around.”
Joseph Los’e was chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira.