NZ Supermarket Price Comparison, October 2026: We Priced 2,119 Products
Which supermarket is cheapest in New Zealand? Everyone has an opinion, but opinions are easy to bend with a handful of hand-picked products. So every month Basket NZ does something less exciting and more useful: we take every product that Pak'nSave, New World and Woolworths all stock, look up each chain's price for it, and add the lot up. This is what the October 2026 comparison found, across 2,119 products.
How the comparison works
The comparison is built to be boring on purpose. Each month we gather the products that all three chains sell, matched to the same item, so that every price in the comparison is a price for the same thing. For each chain we use the prices at its Auckland reference store and take the lowest available shelf or member price for each product. Prices are collected weekly, and the index is calculated on the first of each month; this edition uses the snapshot taken on 1 October 2026.
Because a product only counts if all three chains stock it, the basket leans towards mainstream, widely stocked grocery lines: pantry staples, dairy, drinks, snacks, toiletries and cleaning products. It will say less about fresh produce and butchery, where each chain sells under its own labels and the products don't line up one-to-one. We come back to that limit at the end.
The October result
Adding up the 2,119 products gives three totals. These are not a weekly shop and nobody buys this basket; the totals only exist so the three chains can be compared on exactly the same items.
| Supermarket | Basket total | More than Pak'nSave | Cheapest or joint-cheapest on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pak'nSave | $16,387.30 | — | 58% of products |
| Woolworths | $17,393.71 | $1,006.41 (6.1%) | 24% of products |
| New World | $18,361.38 | $1,974.08 (12.0%) | 19% of products |
Shares add up to more than 100% because when two chains charge the same price, both count as cheapest.
Put in terms of a single product: across the basket, a typical item costs about 47 cents less at Pak'nSave than at Woolworths, and about 93 cents less than at New World. Those averages hide a lot. Many products cost the same everywhere, a few are far cheaper at one chain, and the gaps in the totals come from the lot of products where Pak'nSave is a little cheaper.
Department by department
The overall gap isn't spread evenly. Here is how the three chains compare in each department of the basket, with Pak'nSave's lead over Woolworths and New World shown as a percentage of the other chain's total.
| Department | Products | Pak'nSave | Woolworths | New World | Cheapest | PnS cheaper than WW by | PnS cheaper than NW by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pantry | 393 | $1,739 | $1,875 | $2,014 | Pak'nSave | 7.2% | 13.6% |
| Hot & Cold Drinks | 342 | $2,235 | $2,357 | $2,503 | Pak'nSave | 5.2% | 10.7% |
| Snacks, Treats & Easy Meals | 290 | $1,454 | $1,585 | $1,650 | Pak'nSave | 8.3% | 11.9% |
| Fridge, Deli & Eggs | 256 | $1,690 | $1,817 | $1,895 | Pak'nSave | 7.0% | 10.8% |
| Beer, Wine & Cider | 247 | $4,760 | $4,839 | $5,017 | Pak'nSave | 1.6% | 5.1% |
| Health & Body | 234 | $2,021 | $2,197 | $2,399 | Pak'nSave | 8.0% | 15.7% |
| Household & Cleaning | 99 | $838 | $938 | $1,025 | Pak'nSave | 10.6% | 18.2% |
| Bakery | 76 | $382 | $415 | $424 | Pak'nSave | 8.0% | 9.9% |
| Frozen | 73 | $607 | $657 | $692 | Pak'nSave | 7.7% | 12.3% |
| Baby & Toddler † | 36 | $184 | $204 | $215 | Pak'nSave | 10.0% | 14.4% |
| Fruit & Vegetables † | 34 | $173 | $194 | $198 | Pak'nSave | 10.6% | 12.4% |
| Pets † | 28 | $149 | $148 | $175 | Woolworths | 0.7% dearer | 14.7% |
| Meat, Poultry & Seafood † | 11 | $155 | $167 | $156 | Pak'nSave | 7.4% | 1.0% |
† Fewer than 50 products: treat these rows as indicative only.
Pak'nSave was cheapest in 12 of 13 departments. Among the larger departments (those with at least 90 products in the basket), its lead over Woolworths was biggest in Household & Cleaning (10.6% cheaper than Woolworths and 18.2% cheaper than New World) and smallest in Beer, Wine & Cider (1.6% and 5.1%).
The one department where Pak'nSave did not come out on top was Pets, where Woolworths was cheapest. The margin there is tiny ($0.97 across 28 products), so it is closer to a tie than a win.
How the gap has moved since August
The most interesting number in the series isn't the total, it's the gap. Within any one month, all three chains are priced on exactly the same basket, so the percentage by which one chain beats another is a fair comparison. Here is how Woolworths' and New World's baskets compared with Pak'nSave's in each of the last three months.
| Month | Products in basket | Pak'nSave cheaper than Woolworths by | Pak'nSave cheaper than New World by |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | 2,157 | 8.0% | 12.3% |
| September 2026 | 2,225 | 6.4% | 10.0% |
| October 2026 | 2,119 | 5.8% | 10.8% |
Pak'nSave was the cheapest of the three in each month. Woolworths' gap to it narrowed from 8.0% in August to 6.4% in September and 5.8% in October. New World's gap stayed in a similar range, moving between 10.0% and 12.3%. Three months is not a long run, and price data alone can't tell us why a gap changes, so we'd treat this as something to watch rather than a settled trend.
A note on reading the totals. The basket is "everything all three chains stock that month", so its contents shift a little as ranges change: it held 2,157 products in August, 2,225 in September and 2,119 in October. That is why you shouldn't compare one month's total with the next and conclude that prices rose or fell. The gap between chains within a month is the like-for-like figure. We also don't show months before August, because the basket was roughly half the size and wouldn't be comparable.
What this means for your shop
- If Pak'nSave is convenient, it's usually the safe default for packaged groceries. It led in 12 of 13 departments, and by a clear margin in the big ones.
- The cheapest chain overall isn't the cheapest for every product. 24% of products were cheapest or joint-cheapest at Woolworths, and 19% at New World. For the products you buy every week, check them rather than assuming. Our breakdown of where Pak'nSave isn't cheapest shows which everyday products those tend to be.
- Compare unit prices, not shelf prices. A bigger pack at a higher shelf price is often the cheaper buy per kilo or litre. Our guide to unit prices explains how to read them.
- Own-brand products move the numbers. See what the price data says about own-brand products.
- Distance and time cost money too. A chain that is 6% cheaper on a $150 shop saves about $9. If getting there costs you more than that in fuel or time, the nearest store can win.
What this comparison can't tell you
- It's the Auckland reference stores. Prices can differ between regions and between individual stores within a chain.
- It only covers products all three chains sell. Fresh produce, butchery, bakery and own-brand lines that have no counterpart elsewhere are under-represented, so this is not a verdict on a whole shop.
- It uses the lowest shelf or member price. If you don't use a chain's loyalty scheme, you may pay more than the price we use for that chain.
- It's a snapshot. Specials start and end every week, and individual prices will have moved since the snapshot was taken.
The full, always-current version of this analysis lives on our NZ grocery price index, and typical prices for everyday staples are on the average grocery prices page. You are welcome to quote either with credit to Basket NZ.
Frequently asked questions
Which supermarket is cheapest in NZ in October 2026?
Pak'nSave. Across the 2,119 products that Pak'nSave, New World and Woolworths all stock, Pak'nSave's basket was about 5.8% cheaper than Woolworths' and 10.8% cheaper than New World's, and Pak'nSave was cheapest or joint-cheapest on 58% of products.
How big is the price difference between the supermarkets?
Across 2,119 products the totals were $16,387.30 at Pak'nSave, $17,393.71 at Woolworths and $18,361.38 at New World. That works out to about 47 cents less per product than Woolworths and 93 cents less than New World. The basket is a comparison set, not a weekly shop.
Is Woolworths getting closer to Pak'nSave on price?
Within each month's like-for-like basket, Woolworths' gap to Pak'nSave narrowed from 8.0% in August to 6.4% in September and 5.8% in October. Three months is a short run, so it is worth watching rather than treating as a firm trend.
How does Basket NZ choose which products to compare?
Every product that all three chains stock in a given month, matched to the same item, using each chain's Auckland reference store and the lowest shelf or member price. Prices are collected weekly and the index is recalculated on the first of each month.