You know groceries are expensive. You feel it every time the checkout total makes you wince. But here's the number that makes it real: the average Auckland household is now spending $15,553 a year on food.

That's $293 every single week. Before you pay rent. Before power, petrol, childcare. Before anything else that keeps a family running.

Four years ago, that same Auckland family was spending $12,647 on groceries. The increase since 2020? Nearly $3,000 a year. That's not inflation nibbling at the edges. That's a second power bill. A couple of mortgage payments. A holiday you can't take anymore.

The trajectory tells the story: 2020 to 2021 saw a $374 jump. Then 2021 to 2022: $1,062. The cost-of-living crunch wasn't a moment. It was a cascade, and it never stopped. By 2023, Auckland households crossed $15,000 for the first time. This year, they're paying another $197 on top of that.

Here's what that looks like in practice: the average Auckland family is now spending more on groceries each fortnight than someone on the minimum wage earns in a week. A single parent working full-time at $23.15 an hour takes home about $650 after tax. Their grocery bill? At least $586 every fortnight, likely more if they're feeding teenagers.

And this is an average. Half of Auckland households are spending more than this. Families with kids, households in higher-cost suburbs, anyone with dietary requirements: they're well past $16,000, pushing $17,000 or beyond.

The data goes back 50 years. In 1975, Auckland's annual food spend was a fraction of this. Even adjusting for inflation, the share of household income consumed by groceries has grown. Food used to be cheaper relative to everything else. It's not anymore.

This is why KiwiSaver balances are being raided for hardship withdrawals. Why more people are working second jobs. Why the term "grocery anxiety" is now part of everyday conversation. You can't budget your way out of a 23% increase in four years when wages haven't kept pace.

Every Wednesday, you push the trolley down the same aisles. You buy roughly the same things. But somehow, the total keeps climbing. Now you know by how much: nearly three grand more than it cost before COVID. That's the number behind every decision to skip the avocados, buy the home-brand butter, stretch the mince one more night.

(Source: Stats NZ, food-price-index-regional)