Episode 12: Where is it More Expensive?
In light of inflation being in the limelight right now, I was curious to see some cost comparisons between New Zealand and the US for every day items because my American price memories are from the before times and probably not accurate any more. I’ve definitely noticed an uptick in pricing for many grocery items that aren’t season dependent like produce, so I started there and then fell down a rabbit hole. To keep things as close to equal as possible, I chose HEB and New World prices to compare. They are both middle-of-the-road grocery stores in their respective markets.
Butter - I chose the generic brand for each country to keep things as close as possible. On a side note, something I really miss is US stick butter. It made measuring for baking so easy! In New Zealand, the butter comes in giant blocks that force you to cut and weigh each time. (Admittedly this is better for more precise baking, but I’m usually trying to bake with kids when expedience is important.)
US: HEB brand, 454g - US$4.31 or about $.0095 per gram
NZ: Pam’s Pure butter, 500g - NZ$5.39, or US$3.50 or $.007 per gram
Advantage: New Zealand
Frozen Blueberries - I was able to compare the generic store brands to get a pretty good idea of what the price difference is.
US: HEB brand, 454g - US$3.07, about $.0068 per gram
NZ: Pam’s brand, 500g - NZ$6.99 or US$4.54, about $.0091 per gram
Advantage - US
Organic Milk - A big difference between shopping in the US and New Zealand is the availability of organic foods. They just aren’t as prolific here. While New World doesn’t have a generic brand of organic milk, I took the lowest cost, least fancy option to compare. To get a good comparison because the volumes are significantly different, I did a little math with 1 US gallon equal to 3.8 litres.
US: Central Market, 1 gallon - US$6.16. This is the equivalent of US$1.62 per litre.
NZ: Anchor, 2 litres - NZ$6.49. This is the equivalent of US$2.11 per litre.
Advantage - US
Peanut Butter - A staple in so many houses (mine included)
US: Central Market crunchy peanut butter, 510g - US$3.07
NZ: Pam’s Crunchy peanut butter, 1kg - NZ$5.99, or about US$3.89 (for double the amount)
Advantage - New Zealand
Shredded Mozzarella - Cheese prices are a constant gripe in New Zealand these days, mainly because we produce so much people think it should be cheaper.
US: HEB selects, 454g - US$5.14, or $.011 per gram
NZ: Rolling Meadows, 500g - NZ$9.49 or about US$6.16 or $.012 per gram
Advantage - US (but barely. And I’d venture to guess that the quality of the Kiwi cheese is substantially higher than the US version.)
Batteries - for ease of comparison I chose a 4-pack of C Energizer Max Batteries.
US$8.73
NZ$14.49, or about US$9.42
Advantage - US (Though to be honest, I thought the US was going to blow New Zealand out of the water on this one. I’m surprised the difference is only this small. Batteries seem so expensive here.)
Formula - I hear there is a problem with formula in the US right now, so I thought it would be interesting to see what the price difference is like. Interestingly, I couldn’t find stage 1 or 2 formula available online in the US, so I compared stage 3 (toddler) formula. I hope all the mamas in the US are able to feed their babies. I can’t even imagine how stressful that would be with an infant!
US: Gerber, 566g - US$22.39 or $.04 per gram
NZ: Karicare, 900g - NZ$18.98, or US$12.34 or $.014 per gram
Advantage - New Zealand. It’s not even close.
English Muffins - I am a creature of habit and have an English muffin almost every morning for breakfast, so I was curious what the difference in your run-of-the-mill English muffin looks like. New Zealand doesn’t have a generic option, so I went with the same standard of off the shelf muffin.
US: Thomas’ English Muffins, 6 pack - US$3.07
NZ: Quality Baker’s Muffin Splits, 6 pack - NZ$3.19 or US$2.07
Advantage - New Zealand
After doing my US grocery store deep dive, I’m not nearly as annoyed at the increase in New Zealand prices. Yes, cheese seems really expensive these days, but that would be the case if I was still living in the US, too. Let’s all hope that the inflation spiral doesn’t go crazy.
