She had started comparing prices for the best deals and had cut out expensive items altogether including butter and olive oil.<\/p>\n
Nearly one year on, Hura said, \u201ceverything has gotten more expensive\u201d for her wh\u0101nau of seven. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe weekly shop has gone from $300 to between $400 and $500,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe cost of fruit and vegetables and meat \u2013 everything is shocking. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow you\u2019re paying almost $15 for 500g of mince. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe petrol prices are killing everyone in general.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hura said she had seen a dramatic shift in price hikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel some businesses have jumped on the bandwagon and used the increase in petrol prices to drive their own prices up. <\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely those big supermarket chains have jumped on it as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s harder to be clever about the way we shop; you don\u2019t get as much bang for buck.\u201d <\/p>\n
While overall inflation has slowed down compared to previous years, everyday expenses for essentials like power, groceries, and insurance remain high. <\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2019s annual inflation rate rose to 4.1% for the 12 months to the June 2026 quarter, up from 3.1% in March. <\/p>\n
The main price drivers were petrol (up 27.5%) and diesel (up 71%), driven largely by Middle East conflicts affecting global fuel costs. <\/p>\n
Electricity prices (up 12%) and council rates (up 8.8%) were also factors in the inflation equation. <\/p>\n
Northlander Rose Hura (left) said high food and petrol prices were making life harder for her family.<\/p>\n
Northland Chamber of Commerce acting chief executive Tim Robinson said the extra fuel costs associated with the Iran war had added upward of 25% in costs for many businesses. <\/p>\n
\u201cMost businesses have absorbed that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are probably a number who said \u2018Trump promised the war would be over in six weeks, now it\u2019s six months later and there\u2019s a new normal where petrol costs are sitting. <\/p>\n
\u201cCourier surcharges have risen, and anyone shipping goods have had real cost increases. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of businesses are going \u2018in absence of certainty in fuel prices coming down, we\u2019ll start looking at price rises to recover the costs of additional freight.\u201d <\/p>\n
Robinson said if businesses can\u2019t cover their costs they simply go out of business. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s terrible for everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a sad state of affairs we\u2019re in right now. <\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of things are outside of our control as a country.\u201d <\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Commerce Commission warned businesses against making fuel surcharge claims \u201cif you don\u2019t have reasonable grounds for believing it to be true\u201d. <\/p>\n
Any surcharge should be based on \u201creal and current cost pressures\u201d, the commission said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile fuel surcharges can be a legitimate way for businesses to recover unexpected increases in fuel costs, we want to remind businesses about how to apply them fairly.<\/p>\n
\u201cFuel surcharges must reflect only the additional fuel costs your business is facing and cannot be used as an excuse to recover unrelated expenses or to increase margins.\u201d<\/p>\n