WILD IN THE AISLES:

‘No cheese please, we live in New Zealand’: Kiwis lament the cost of their grocery shop. By Virginia

Virginia Fallon talks trollies and cents with customers struggling to make ends meet

Louise Gibson laughs, somewhat hysterically, when asked if there’s any cheese in her trolley. On Tuesday, the Lower Hutt woman is rummaging through the groceries she’s just paid $163 for to prove milk and margarine are the only similar products in there.

There is, however, a box of Weet-Bix, a bag of potatoes and frozen veges among the pile, as well as an enormous packet of sausages.

‘‘Cheese?’’, she says, biffing a value pack of toilet paper into the boot, ‘‘I’m not sure my kids remember what that is.’’

If you think supermarket shopping can’t possibly get any more depressing than it is right now, spare a thought for the people who this week discovered that indeed it can.

On a wet afternoon in a busy car park, a handful of dejected New Zealanders encountered something almost as unpalatable as the prices they’d just paid for groceries: a reporter asking if they were unhappy with their shopping bill.

It is, admittedly, a stupid question. Grocery food prices were 6.4% higher in April this year than last, with increases across all the food categories measured. Fruit and vegetables were up 9.4% and

‘‘The prices at the supermarkets are out of control, and I am never buying from them again.’’ Richelle Mullins

meat, poultry and fish up 8.1%. So while those willing to share their shopping lists and receipts were part of a diverse group, the experience they’d just shared was a common one.

All seven spent more money than they were expecting to, walked away from products they’d intended to buy and, during a week when a block of tasty cheddar hit $21, none bought cheese.

Gibson says it’s at the supermarket that New Zealand’s skyrocketing costs of living have really hit home for her. The 39-year-old single parent started noticing some items creeping up a few months ago but says now everything is more expensive and feeding two young kids is getting harder.

‘‘We don’t buy fresh fruit or veges, everything is frozen, and meat is either sausages or mince. We’re not at the point of saveloy soup, but we’re not far off.’’

While Will has neither a trolley nor surname – ‘‘call me Mr Broke’’ – he does have a paper shopping bag of which the contents cost him about $35. He got coffee and a loaf of bread for his pains, as well as some deli ham, washing powder and a bottle of wine.

He admits he could have chosen cheaper brands, but felt like spoiling himself today: ‘‘I never thought I’d call $5 worth of ham a treat.’’

The university student has not long moved back into his parents home to save on rent and says food costs really hit home when his mum started demanding he chip in for groceries, something she’s never done before.

‘‘All joking aside, things are really bad. Food prices are all anyone talks about now, I don’t know anyone who isn’t struggling to pay for it.’’

Jim Hulme is walking to his hatchback when he’s waylaid by a question about how he feels after his shop.

‘‘Bloody marvellous,’’ he says, ‘‘I love paying too much for groceries, don’t you?’’

The superannuitant’s opinions on journalists aren’t reportable, but the contents of his trolley are: his main items are both fresh and frozen meat, cleaning products, potatoes and milk. The shop set him back about $80, and he believes that’s a good $15 more than it would have done a few months ago.

Like Gibson, he’s stopped buying fresh produce and cheese has been off the menu for ages. Today he set out to buy some beef but he chose cheaper pieces of chicken instead.

He says he’s financially comfortable, although he worries about families who are doing it tough.

‘‘A lot of us old people talk about how hard we had it, but New Zealand is worse now than it’s ever been.’’

Helen Williams says her biggest saviour right now are the free lunches her children receive at school. Today’s shop set her back about $180 and that’s not even a full week’s worth, she’ll be back in the aisles in the next few days.

‘‘It’s really grim. We also get leftover free lunches, and it’s sad how much of a difference that makes.’’

Like everyone else, she’s done away with fresh vegetables in favour of frozen ones and while she hasn’t had time to go to a farmers’ market she’ll be giving it a go this weekend.

‘‘There’s no way it could be more expensive than what I’m paying in the supermarket.’’

Four days later, Lower Hutt’s Riverside Market is teeming with Saturday shoppers determined to cut out the supermarket middleman and save on fresh produce.

Richelle Mullins has cycled here from her Eastbourne home, propelled by the prospect of cheaper food, and she’s not disappointed.

‘‘There’s only two of us in our house now, and you think we’d spending less but its always $300 a week because the price of meat and veges is insane.’’

Carrying a bag full of lemons, bok choy, lettuce and apples, Mullins has so far spent $10 and says the market experience has been a revelation. Not only do things cost less, they’re bigger and fresher too.

‘‘The prices at the supermarkets are out of control, and I am never buying from them again.’’

Aiste Kandrotiene and Kestas Kandrotas are minding their collective business when they’re asked not just to answer silly questions but pose for a photo as well.

The pair are long-time market-goers, having frequented a range in the region for about four years. They’ve long-known it’s a cheaper place to buy, proven by today’s $17 spend on bananas, mandarins, tomatoes and potatoes.

‘‘We’re from Europe and these are crazy prices. Vegetables here just shouldn’t cost as much as they do,’’ Kandrotas says.

Beth Romeril is a recent market-convert, changing her behaviour in the past six weeks to avoid buying produce at the supermarket.

‘‘It’s not cheap buying food for three children anyway and the quality of it isn’t very good.’’

Although the Naenae woman hasn’t sat down and calculated how much she’s saving by shopping at the market, she says it’s certainly a cheaper way to buy.

‘‘It’s actually not that convenient to come here, it’s a bit of a pain in the neck, but it’s definitely worth it.’’