Big rise in shopping basket this month

Press, 25 June 1981, Page 20

Big rise in shopping basket this month

Several items on our shopping list have increased in price in the last month, pushing the total cost of this month’s shopping basket up by $4.13, one of the biggest increases since it began two years ago. The over-all increase was helped by such basic commodities as eggs, which went up twice in the month by 9c a dozen, and bread, which has gone up by 2c to 3c a loaf, for the fourth time this year.

Eggs went up by 7c a dozen on May 23, and by 2c a dozen on June 20 — the sixth time this year eggs have

risen in price. The continually rising cost of grain to feed the hens is the reason given by the producers for the increases.

One dozen grade six eggs now cost $1.56. At the beginning of the year, the same sized eggs cost $1.29 a dozen. Toothpaste went up at the beginning of June by about 5 per cent. A. 150 g tube of Signal toothpaste, for ex-

ample, has gone up by 8c to $1.70. All packets of biscuits have gone up or will be going up next week by 3c to 4c a packet. Aulsebrooks put their prices up on June 22, Griffins .put theirs up on June 15, and Hudsons biscuits will go up on June 30. The other big price increases in our shopping basket were in the meat and 'smallgoods departments. Bacon has gone up slightly, as have the beef sausages on

our list. Beef has held its price for some time, but it has recently started to move up-

wards, and will probably continue to do so, gradually. .Lamb has been going up steadily in the last . few weeks, and is also likely t{> continue an upwards trend..Pasta, made by the Timaru Milling Company, has also gone up since last month, although it is not recorded in our shopping basket. For example, a 500 g packet of macaroni elbows has increased by 9c to $1.45. * Flavoured cooking ' essences made by Stevens have gone up in price, too. For example, a 25ml bottle- of vanilla essence has gone up 8c to 63c.