Struggling shoppers stick with 'pasta, rice, potatoes, and bread' to keep tummies full

A Wellington mum says she is relying on bread and pasta to keep food costs down and fill tummies at home.

At Pak'nSave Kilbirnie in Wellington, shoppers on Tuesday gave a resounding consensus that fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy are putting serious pressure on their budgets.

This comes as the Commerce Commission investigates the two big supermarket chains over pricing and promotional practices.

Wellington mum and community worker Chanelle Pokoati said the high cost of groceries has made bread a crucial staple for her family.

"We're eating a lot of carbs to get full. We eat a lot of pasta, rice, potatoes, and bread. A lot of bread. Like, toast is our everyday thing. We just get full on bread."

She said every grocery shop, she made hard choices to meet her children's needs and keep costs low.

"I find that I have to sacrifice a lot more. To be able to buy [my child] fruit, we'll sacrifice and not get a meat pack or something."

Primary school teacher Fiona Crossett said she would sometimes put pricier items in her trolley back at the checkout.

"Cheese, sometimes I think I take that out of the shopping trolley because it is a bit more expensive and I'm kinda going not buying meat as much and looking for alternatives, because it becomes cheaper."

Kilbirnie shoppers were also sceptical of the deals and specials advertised on supermarket shelves.

One man said: "They only put on special things that they can't sell. So, they drag you in with that so you can buy some more".

Crossett said: "I don't tend to go for them because I don't really see them as a saver".

"I think you just end up spending more money because you think it's a good deal but it's not."

Another woman said: "I always check on the individual price of the product, because sometimes you can get ripped off or perhaps the ticketing price is not the same at the checkout".

The Commerce Commission investigation into Woolworths and Foodstuffs will look at whether certain pricing and promotional practices comply with the Fair Trading Act.

It followed complaints laid by Consumer New Zealand which questioned the accuracy of pricing and specials at supermarkets.

But the Council of Trade Union's chief economist Craig Renney did not expect the investigation to make a difference to food prices on its own.

"That's something that we require more competition in the market for, and something that would require more resilient supply chains."

Renney said people on the lowest income also needed to be on a living wage to have any chance at staying ahead of rising food prices.

He said right now, the lack of supermarket competition meant low wage earners were bearing the brunt of high grocery costs.

"That's why we've consistently called for employers to pay the living wage, because that's calculated to give people more choice and more decency in their lives".

Foodstuffs and Woolworths said they would comply with the commission's investigation, but neither accepted RNZ's requests for an interview.