Last month a Statistics New Zealand (StatsNZ) release announced food prices had increased 4% for the past year.
The Salvation Army, Bellyful Invercargill and Kiwiharvest all report an increase in the number of people accessing their help.
Invercargill Salvation Army community services manager Cathy Strong said 2025 data showed clients needing kai had increased by 11.27% compared to the previous 12 months, with 397 new clients requesting food.
“We provided 997 food parcels for the year, supporting over 2500 people.”
It was heartbreaking as those needing help were not just low or middle income people, she said.
“These are your neighbours, your aunt or uncle, your friends, your whanau; people across the board are feeling the cost of living.”
Invercargill Bellyful co-ordinator Toni Eade said it supported 214 whānau and provided more than 1200 home-cooked meals which represented a 127% increase in meals delivered and 120% more whānau supported compared to last year.
The rising cost of food was more than an economic issue, she said.
“It’s a wellbeing issue.”
Invercargill Kiwiharvest relationship manager Jennifer Stephens said it had increased the amount of food it rescued by 28% to support the demand in Invercargill and surrounding areas.
“Our agencies report having food support requests from more elderly than ever before and working families who are on minimum wage.”
Food prices had increased more 10% in the past three years, she said.
‘‘This has caused significant strain on those needing food support.”
The organisation could save more food if it was not for food safety regulations, she said.
“There is more than enough food going to waste to address this issue if the government would assist with regulation change.”
People are also making difficult decisions on what to spend money on.
Ms Strong said families were “making tough trade-offs — rent, power and food — and some shifting to cheaper, less nutritious options’’.
Ms Eade said families were often “forced to make tough choices stretching meals further, skipping nutritious options, or sacrificing other essentials to put food on the table”.
Ms Stephens said people sought food support because after they had paid costs including electricity, rent or transport to get to work they did not have enough left over to pay for a full week’s supply of food.
“Unfortunately our information says that people are picking lower quality product or missing out on meals altogether.”
StatsNZ said grocery items including milk and bread had pushed up the price increase.
Milk went from $4.25 per 2 litres to $4.92, up 15.8% and white bread went from $1.39 per 600g to $2.20, an increase of 58.3%.
Ms Eade said the increase in staples including milk and bread made them harder to afford “particularly for families already under pressure”.
“For families with young children, illness, or sudden life changes, even small price increases can quickly tip them into food insecurity.”
