A year ago Countdown dropped the price of its Homebrand bread to just $1 a loaf, thereby saving Kiwi shoppers $9 million.
Nearly 19 million loaves of $1 bread have sold in 12 months since Countdown’s Price Lockdown saw the cost of Homebrand wheatmeal and white loaves drop from $1.48 to $1.00 last July.
The anniversary of $1 bread comes as Statistics New Zealand’s latest food price index results show grocery food prices have dropped 2.1 per cent in the past year, and bread prices have fallen by 8.7 per cent in the year to June 2015.
Countdown was the first supermarket to lock down the price of $1 bread every day.
Countdown’s general manager of marketing, Bridget Lamont, says Countdown’s $1 Homebrand bread has driven down bread prices nationally and helped families’ weekly budgets.
“We can’t control rents, mortgages or fuel costs, but we can help shoppers by keeping the price of staple grocery products down. We’re committed to lowering prices for longer and we are pleased to see grocery prices coming down for Kiwis,” she says.
AUT University’s Professor of Retailing, Andrew Parsons, agrees that consistency of pricing is important for consumers on a budget.
“Consistent low prices, particularly on staples like bread, have been shown in international research to smooth out purchase capabilities for shoppers, allowing better budgeting to occur.
“Grocery shoppers can build their basket around known quantities of staples, enabling them to decide when to add or delete luxury items in the knowledge they have purchased the essential basics.
“Consistency also allows easier budgeting to occur around the combination of groceries and utilities like power, gas, telephone, and rent.
“Research also suggests that by having consistent pricing at the lower level also reduces waste because shoppers are less likely to stockpile when products are temporarily discounted and then find they don’t use all the items before expiry dates.”
The $1 Homebrand Bread is just one of more than 1,500 key products Countdown has dropped prices on since October 2013. Along with bread, popular products included in the line-up are $15 Homebrand nappies, $10 Signature Range water (24 pack), and this week size 18 hot chickens have been locked down to $13.
Price Lockdown sees the price of selected products dropped for the long term so consumers can rely on low prices every day.
