The rising price of dairy products on supermarket shelves means foodbanks are no longer receiving regular donations of milk and cheese to give to those most in need.
File photo. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
A 1kg block of tasty cheese is now selling for between $16 and $18 at the country's three main supermarket chains.
Māngere Budgeting Services chief executive Darryl Evans said it has been months since its foodbank parcels included staple dairy products.
"We've had no milk to give, no cheese, those items are either selling in the supermarkets or maybe going to some foodbanks but certainly our foodbank hasn't seen any of those items since the beginning of this year," he said.
"We've not had any of those products to pass on to those who need it the most."
Evans said families accessing its services typically had only $39 a week to spend on groceries.
"Unfortunately the cheese prices are just another example. Prices are going up and our kids are not getting items which we may have enjoyed as part of a staple diet when we were younger they're simply out of reach of the poorer families," he said.
"If you are a struggling family you're being hit in every way. Rents are rising, power costs, petrol, everything is going up and the one thing for poorer families that you can cut and burn every week is food."
He said the service needs more donations to cope with winter demand and has cool storage for dairy and meat.
ANZ rural economist Susan Kilsby said the price of cheese at local retailers is affected by global demand which has been high, resulting in prices rising.
"People are looking to consume more dairy products for health reasons. The underlying market is really strong for all dairy products and that's what we're starting to see flow through here to our supermarket prices in New Zealand."
Added to that, Kilsby said New Zealand cheese fetches a premium price overseas.
"I would expect cheese prices to consumers to stay high for a while yet. While we're starting to see some easing on global markets for cheese in general, we aren't seeing the prices for New Zealand cheese easing as yet, so high prices will be here for a while yet."
She said the wholesale price of cheese is not yet at record levels.