Grocery Prices in New Zealand Soar: 1991 Receipt Sparks Comparison

An old Woolworths receipt from August 1991 has gone viral on social media, highlighting just how much grocery prices have changed over the past three decades. The $63.75 shop contained staples like milk, butter, bread, eggs, Weet-Bix, coffee, and sugar.

Experts say that while the prices may appear cheap by today's standards, other factors need to be taken into account. To compare the costs of 12 products from the receipt with their nearest equivalents at Woolworths today, inflation was adjusted over the past 35 years.

The comparison showed that some products had risen much more sharply than others. A 500g block of butter cost just $1.88 in 1991, or about $4.38 in today's dollars. In contrast, a comparable block of Anchor butter was listed at $9.70 this week.

Wages also play a role in understanding the affordability of groceries. The adult minimum wage was $6.125 an hour in 1991 compared to $23.95 an hour today. However, Christoph Schumacher from Massey University's economics department cautioned that wages had not risen evenly and that lower-income households typically spend a greater proportion of their earnings on food.