"I don't mind recommending people season their food well - perhaps we have had an effect!"
Statistics NZ will announce the outcome of its three-yearly review of the Food Price Index on Thursday, identifying food and drinks that have become part of people's broad diets.
Chris Pike, the department's prices manager, said the slowing economy was expected to rein in experimentation with new and diverse foods.
Twelve years ago, he said, Kiwis would go out for fish and chips, or a hamburger. Three years ago, they might have gone out for sushi, or topped their pita bread with hummus. Now, we are more likely to stay home with a DVD and a traditional home-cooked dinner.
According to the index, food prices increased 7.5 per cent in the year to June. Off-season fruit and veges like tomatoes, capsicum and lettuce hit historic highs, but other groceries and restaurant meals also increased significantly.
Pike said food prices had increased "reasonably strongly" over the past year. "At the same time incomes have been reasonably tight, with increases in unemployment ... there's been a move away from branded products to supermarket home brands, especially for things like milk and bread."
The changes to Statistics NZ's Food Price Index will be based on supermarket scan data and ACNielsen research, including the household economic survey of 2500 homes.
On the basis of these findings, the statisticians will decide which of the 157 food items in our national shopping basket have fallen out of favour, and which are a good measure of the way we shop.
In the 2008 review, cooked chicken, soy milk and fresh pineapple were added to the shopping basket, while saveloys and condensed milk were scrapped.
While the Statistics NZ decisions were based on more than just the sales data, grocery industry analysts said salt sales had increased dramatically, thanks to the influence of shows such as MasterChef.
Countdown public affairs manager Luke Schepen said liquid stock, Greek-style yoghurt and coffee beans had increased in popularity since 2008. Sales of canola oil, which is not currently in the Food Price Index, were also up 15 per cent.
On the down side, sales of long-life juice had dived as the growing range of fresh drinks became more popular.
Both main supermarket chains reported a boom in flour, suggesting people were baking at home rather than buying cakes and sweets. Gluten-free foods were also becoming more mainstream.
Foodstuffs Auckland manager Rob Chemaly said soaring sales of rice in the past few years showed the influence of international cuisine in the city, while fresh pasta sales had taken a hit as financially-constrained shoppers opted for dry pasta, in particular the generic brand.
Cheaper meat cuts were also becoming more popular, he said. On the other hand, ultra-pricey gourmet yoghurt had surged ahead with 15 per cent growth since 2008.
Despite fears of rising food prices, some products have become significantly cheaper over the decades. In 1959, a dozen eggs would had cost five shillings - $10.14 in today's dollar terms. This week, shoppers could buy a dozen barn eggs for as little as $3 in some supermarkets.
Some things haven't changed - bananas have been the number one selling item for over a decade and gingernuts are still the top-selling biscuit.
Pantry of delights
Kiwi butter - but never margarine - free-range eggs, canned tomatoes and soy sauce are always in Annabel Langbein's shopping basket.
The mother and author of The Free-Range Cook says she's watched supermarket stocks diversify over the years, and she loves it.
"Supermarkets are now offering a global pantry. You no longer go home with malt vinegar, you might grab a more exotic flavour, and there's all the boutique oils," Langbein says.
"Twenty years ago olive oil lived in the medicine cabinet, it was for upset stomachs."
Langbein says her family has embraced natural flavourings such as miso and tomato paste.
"In the old days you'd always add cream for flavour," she says.
