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NZ Herald
18-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Soaring butter prices put pressure on Tauranga cafes
'The average price for 500g of butter was $7.42 in April 2025. That's nearly $3 more expensive than this time last year,' Stats NZ spokeswoman Nicola Growden said. Blended Deli & Eatery in Pāpāmoa is known for its cabinet food – sandwiches, an array of slices, cookies and doughnuts. Owner Toni Frampton told the Bay of Plenty Times the cost of everything had gone up and butter was 'so expensive'. 'The worst thing is that you can't do anything about it.' Frampton said butter had gone from $6 to more than $10 for a 500g block. 'I'm actually travelling to Costco in Auckland to get my butter because I can pay $10 for 1kg. I go up there once a month to do a massive bulk buy. 'It's just worth travelling to get the better deal.' Blended Deli used butter in most of, if not all its baked goods and Frampton said there was an obvious cost struggle. 'All of our baking we do in-house, it's all with butter, so if anything we're trying to knock sizes down to get extra out of everything.' 'We're having to be more diligent with what we make, with what we produce and making serving sizes that little bit smaller instead of hiking the prices up on our products. 'Butter-wise, we haven't passed the buck on to the consumer yet.' She said she was strategising and focusing on the things that mattered most to her and the customers. 'I've been doing this for 40 years and this is probably the worst it's been in a really long time. 'Things are going to get really expensive and who's the one that's going to suffer?' Advertisement Advertise with NZME. Danielle Cubis, owner of Spongedrop Cakery in Mount Maunganui, said butter prices had gone up and up again. 'It feels almost weekly, and I'm sure that's not actually the case, but it just goes up all the time, so we have to keep a constant eye on it.' She said Spongedrop could not easily bulk buy from supermarkets because those often had limits. 'I think a lot of people have this perception that we buy bulk and we're going to get cheap discounts, but it's not the case, the supermarkets have the pull with that sort of stuff.' Cubis said she was paying $9.60 for a 500g block of butter – and that was not including GST. 'We're having to adjust our recipes to use less butter, and that's not my preference because we have tried and true recipes that we don't want to change. 'We're a dairy country, we should have access to dairy produce because these are farmed on our land and with our resources.' She said the rising butter prices hurt the most and it was a 'kick in the teeth'. 'We don't want to change things, but we are having to make a few adjustments.' The Bay of Plenty Times looked into the cheapest options for common grocery foods at three central Tauranga supermarkets. At the time of writing, Pak'nSave Cameron Road sold a 500g of Pams Pure Butter for $8.29. The same product retailed for $8.79 at New World Gate Pā. Woolworths Tauranga had a 500g Woolworths Salted Butter for $8.19. A standard 2-litre Pams Milk from Pak'nSave was $4.40, $4.48 at New World, and at Woolworths, a 2-litre Woolworths Milk Standard Bottle was $4.43. The price of a standard loaf of white bread was similar across the board. Pams Value White Toast Fresh Sliced Bread was $1.39 at Pak'nSave, $1.49 at New World, and Woolworths sold their Essentials Sliced Bread White for $1.49. Pam's 1kg of Edam cheese was $12.59 at Pak'nSave, $13.29 at New World, and Woolworths Tauranga had a 1kg block of Everyday cheddar cheese for $12.49. Foodstuffs, which operates Pak'nSave and New World, reported a 2.8% year-on-year rise in retail prices for goods in its food price inflation basket. Foodstuffs said the business was 'very aware' of the pressure food prices placed on households. 'We're committed to continuing to support our customers and communities through what remains a challenging time for many.' Woolworths New Zealand said it was working 'even harder' to give customers good value and a 'fantastic' shopping experience. 'Customers are facing continued cost-of-living pressures, and delivering value is a top priority of ours.' Westpac economist Paul Clark told the NZ Herald in early May that retail prices for butter generally moved in line with export prices and it was likely prices would 'ratchet higher in coming months'.
Otago Daily Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Food prices rise at fastest rate in over a year
Butter is among the biggest risers in price according to latest increases. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Food prices have risen at their fastest pace in more than a year driven by more expensive dairy products, and hinting that inflation pressures are gathering pace. Stats NZ said the food price index rose 3.7% in the 12 months ended April, the highest since January last year. "Price increases were widespread, with all five food groups recording an increase," spokesperson Nicola Growden said. Groceries were a key part of the overall rise, increasing 5.2% over the past year, because of large increases for butter, milk, cheese, and coffee. The price of butter increased 65%, cheese was up 24%, and milk 15%. "The average price for 500g of butter was $7.42 in April 2025. That's nearly $3 more expensive than this time last year," Growden said. World dairy prices have been surging amid increased demand and reduced supply, thus pushing up domestic costs. Similarly, global prices for coffee have been pushed higher because of disease and bad weather in key producing countries. A 100g pack of instant coffee had increased more than 17% in the past year. Stats NZ said airfares, energy costs, and rents were all up last month offsetting cheaper fuel and accommodation. ASB senior economist Mark Smith said the monthly price indicators were volatile but pointed to building pockets of inflation pressures. "Annual CPI inflation will likely remain parked towards the upper part of the 1-3% target range for much of 2025. While this is unlikely to prevent official cash rate cuts, the RBNZ will be somewhat cautious." The RBNZ is widely expected to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.25% at its next monetary statement in two weeks.
NZ Herald
15-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Butter prices soar 65%, driving food cost higher, new data shows
But price increases were widespread, with all five food groups recording an increase, prices and deflators, spokeswoman Nicola Growden said. 'Price increases for dairy products led the increases for April 2025,' Growden said. 'The average price for 500g of butter was $7.42 in April 2025. That's nearly $3 more expensive than this time last year,' Growden said. The increase in the non-alcoholic beverages group was driven by higher prices for instant coffee, up 21.3% in the 12 months to April 2025. 'Instant coffee prices have increased $1.44 since this time last year. The average cost is now $8.21 per 100g,' Growden said. Stats NZ's selected price indexes provide a monthly update on 46.5% of the goods and services in the total consumers price index (which is released quarterly). It includes food, rent, travel and – for the first time this month – electricity prices. Electricity prices increased 2.3% in April 2025 compared with March 2025, while gas prices increased 1.1%. Prices for international airfares increased 24.7% in April 2025 compared with March 2025, while prices for domestic airfares increased 3.8%. 'The more expensive air travel costs coincided with school holidays and consecutive long weekends throughout April,' Growden said. The increase in international airfares was driven by higher prices for flights to the Pacific Islands, Australia and Asia. Rents rose 0.2% on a monthly basis and were up 3% annually, based on the stock measure. The stock measure shows rental price changes across the whole rental population, including renters currently in tenancies. 'Selected Price Indexes (SPI) for April came in a touch stronger than our expectation,' said ANZ senior economist Miles Workman. It was up 0.9% stronger ( month on month) than the flat read ANZ had pencilled in. 'But much of the surprise came from the volatile components,' he said.
