Basket up $3.66

Press, 25 July 1985, Page 16

Basket up $3.66

The grocery “basket” is only $1.67 off $2OO after an increase of $3.66 since last month. The total cost for the “basket” is now $198.33. The big increases have been in butter, which went from $1.28 to $1.45, and sugar, from $1.16 to $1.27. Smaller increases were in coffee (up 4c), margarine (up 4c), bread (up 3c), cheese (up 20c), canned peaches (up 3c) and baked beans (up 6c). Meat, which is sold by auction, remained fairly steady in price with a 10c increase in 500 g stewing steak and a 15c increase in 750 g of lamb leg chops. The general manager of Foodstuffs Christchurch, Ltd, (New World Supermarkets) Mr Russell Thomas,

said that price increases had slowed in the last three weeks. The increase in the price of sugar and butter was likely to be a one-off rise this time and would probably not have a flow-on effect, he said. Mr Mike Prendergast, the general manager of J. Rattray and Son (Countdown stores), said that trade in the last month had been fairly settled with no real shortages on any product. Price increases had been coming through steadily and the rise in the cost of butter and sugar is “bound to cause increases in the biscuit and confectionary field.” These would come through gradually, he said.