Supermarkets in the crosshairs: Taupō mum looks to pay less and eat better

Fleur Smith, a mum from the New Zealand town of Taupō, has completely stopped shopping at major supermarket chains since the start of 2025. She explains her New Year’s resolution simply: the cost of a basic grocery shop has become unbearable, and the family is increasingly unhappy with the quality of what ends up in the trolley. With bread, milk and meat prices surging, her personal experiment quickly drew public attention.

“This can’t go on”: why she decided to ditch the chains

“Everyone around me is saying they can’t afford to pay any more… this can’t go on,” Smith says. In her view, a mass boycott would be the only real way to pressure retail giants to rethink their pricing policy.

Christmas was the turning point. Around the table, people weren’t talking about gifts but about price tags: NZ$100 at the supermarket doesn’t go as far as it used to, and families are seriously worried about how they’ll make ends meet. That anxiety, now a constant in almost every everyday conversation, pushed Fleur to act.

Food price rises in New Zealand, in numbers

Stats NZ figures published in December back up consumers’ feelings in cold, hard percentages. Overall, food prices rose by 4.6% over the year, but for individual items the picture is far sharper:

• white bread (the cheapest option) rose by 53.2%;
• beef rose by 26.7%;
• milk jumped by 15.8%.

These are staples in many households, and their rising cost is felt especially painfully.

What exactly she’s calling for

Smith isn’t telling people to go hungry or to ignore shops entirely. Her idea is different: change where they shop and return to cooking “from scratch”. If a significant share of customers take their spending straight to farmers, butchers, greengrocers and markets, the chains will get a clear message. Cooking at home, focusing on seasonal and local ingredients, and a daily video diary as a public experiment are all parts of a single strategy.

Chains’ response: what Woolworths and Foodstuffs said

Both of the biggest retail groups were asked directly: would they be willing to lower prices if the boycott became widespread? Woolworths responded briefly, politely declining to comment. A Foodstuffs spokesperson acknowledged that the cost of living remains “one of the biggest issues for shoppers,” but suggested consumers “compare deals and take advantage of specials at local stores.” The company says shoppers rarely challenge prices at the checkout, and if questions do arise, they are handled on a case-by-case basis.

How her boycott works — a simple plan

Instead of her usual supermarket run, Fleur has built a different shopping circuit. She buys food from butchers, fruit and veg shops, farmers’ markets, roadside stalls and wholesalers. She makes bread, yoghurt and a number of other items at home. The menu is built around seasonality and local sourcing, and she documents the whole process on video every day.

Cooking “from scratch” vs cheap processed food

Trying to save money, Smith observes, often pushes people toward the unhealthiest choices: instant noodles, $1 white bread, fast food. “Homemade bread is still better than $1 bread packed with stabilisers and all sorts of processed fillers that can wreak havoc on your gut,” she notes.

Who she is — and why food matters to her

Smith is originally from the UK. After moving to New Zealand, she didn’t just settle in — in 2024 she launched the Treats of Taupō food festival, which helped put the small town on the country’s culinary map. Now the focus has shifted to home cooking and finding the best ingredients for reasonable money.

How much time it takes — and why that’s a barrier

She tracks the time commitment every day, understanding that for most people, a lack of free hours becomes the biggest mental barrier. Still, once the basics are mastered — bread or yoghurt, for example — the process turns out to be easier and faster than expected. Smith admits she’s learning as she goes, but is confident her speed will increase week by week.

Practical money-saving tactics she’s already using:

• Volunteering in community gardens: as well as gardening skills, participants take home some of the harvest.
• Buying meat from a butcher who suggests better-value cuts and ways to cook them.
• Roadside stalls with fresh vegetables and fruit.
• Online subscriptions for “misfit” produce boxes — slightly odd-shaped but good-quality fruit and veg that chains reject.
• Buying seasonal produce in bulk and freezing it: a trip to a berry farm cost several times less than buying the same berries in small packs at the supermarket.
• The principle of “cheapest and freshest first, then build the menu around it”: a few cabbages at the lowest price sparked culinary experiments.

Early results: spending is down, and the food tastes better

Although the year has only just begun, the family is already seeing lower spending and noticeably more enjoyment from food. Last week, a chicken from the butcher stretched across several meals: first roasted whole, then with a fresh tomato salad and potatoes on the side. Some of the ingredients were obtained for free from a community garden.

The toughest category: dairy

While alternatives for meat, vegetables and fruit were found fairly quickly, dairy products remain the hardest problem to solve. Small New Zealand producers typically make artisan cheeses and milk — tasty, but not exactly cheap. Smith has already mastered homemade yoghurt and plans to try making butter and cream herself, but admits this is still the most challenging part of her experiment so far.

Saving money extends to other parts of life, including entertainment

Interestingly, the drive to save money doesn’t only affect the grocery shop. After all, saving in one category of goods and services can lead people to overspend on other things. That’s why women are also starting to cut back in other areas of spending. For example, many are increasingly doing beauty treatments at home rather than in specialised beauty salons.

According to recent analyst data, more and more women are cutting entertainment spending, including activities that were traditionally seen as male. Video games are one such example. Female audiences are actively looking for ways to play for free, using no-deposit bonuses and digital store promotions. The authors of the site, which ranks highly in search results and includes a review of such bonuses and free games, note that the share of women among visitors has risen noticeably over the past year. 

It’s the same logic as Fleur’s: if you can get a quality product for less—or even free—why pay extra? Smith’s approach to groceries, in essence, reflects a broader trend: people are rethinking their everyday spending across all categories, from food to leisure.