Collecting stickers or supermarket savings: Which is the better way to get your cookware?
Smeg knives. Spiegelau glasses. New World supermarket’s past sticker promotions have driven shoppers wild and sparked outrageous bidding wars. This year the exclusive offering is a range of MasterChef cookware. But could shoppers just buy similar cookware by making savings on their groceries at other supermarkets? James Pocock reports.
Saving supermarket stickers to get free cookware might be a fun thing to do, but it’s not necessarily the most financially savvy decision for your family to make over the next 10 weeks.
New World sticker promotions are almost always hot ticket items, but they take significant amounts of money to actually collect.
To collect a MasterChef Non-Stick Roaster with Rack in the current promotion, a New World customer needs 70 stickers, the equivalent of a $1400 spend in store.
So Hawke’s Bay Today decided to do a rather non-scientific comparison - would a shopper be better off just going to Pak ‘n Save for their weekly shop and then buying their own cookware with the savings?
With an average weekly shop rounding up to $140, a New World Hastings customer would earn 70 stickers in 10 weeks.
But our comparison, which doesn’t take into account changes in prices between stores week to week, shows someone purchasing the same items from fellow Foodstuffs-owned brand Pak ‘n Save Hastings could save about $100 after 10 weeks.
The exact same items in the same quantities through Pak ‘n Save’s online shopping feature set to Pak ‘n Save Hastings came to $129.25, for savings of $10.72 each week.
Michael McLay, manager of Total Food Equipment, said he didn’t know what the quality of the New World exclusive MasterChef cookware was, but you could purchase a top-quality roasting dish and rack from his store for $95.
New World’s own recommended retail price (RRP) cited the MasterChef roasting dish and rack as being valued at $140.
There are five other items that stickers can be traded for during the promotion which kicked off at the end of last month.
They range from a two-piece utensil set for 20 stickers or 10 stickers plus $10, all the way to the 24cm casserole dish with a lid available to club card members for 80 stickers or 40 stickers plus $40.
Two utensils and a 26cm frying pan that McLay estimated to be about equivalent in quality to the MasterChef items New World was offering cost $144 together at his stores.
The combined RRP of the MasterChef 26cm frying pan and two utensils was $145 according to New World’s website.
A Foodstuffs spokesperson said the cookware promotion aimed to bring a little cooking joy and inspiration into kitchens.
“From the popularity of our previous promotions with the likes of Smeg and KitchenAid, it’s clear Kiwis love quality items from well-known brands. Through our initial customer research, we had an overwhelmingly positive response towards the MasterChef cookware range.”
The spokesperson noted its New World and Pak ’n Save brands were very different.
“New World is all about a providing a great range of products at fair value, and excellent customer service, all wrapped up in a modern supermarket environment.
“Over at Pak ‘n Save, the aim is to deliver New Zealand’s lowest food prices and everything our teams do, whether it’s the no-frill warehouse format or buying in bulk, is designed to do just that.
McLay said most people he knew gave their New World stickers away, but “a promo is a promo” and there were fanatics for them.
He doubted that this year’s cookware promotion would be enough to make many people go out of their way to New World. “People will just continue to shop where they usually shop.”
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Poll: 🗑️ Would you be keen to switch to a fortnightly rubbish collection, or do you prefer things as they are?
Aucklanders, our weekly rubbish collections are staying after councillors voted to scrap a proposed trial of fortnightly pick-ups.
We want to hear from you: would you be keen to switch to a fortnightly rubbish collection, or do you prefer things as they are?
Keen for the details? Read up about the scrapped collection trial here.
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83.9% Same!
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16.1% Would have liked to try something different
7 tips for buying your Christmas ham
It’s the centerpiece of the Christmas table, so when you’re peering into the supermarket chiller or ordering from the butcher, choosing the perfect ham can feel like a daunting task.
Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing one to bring home with you.
1. What type of ham to buy
You’ve got some decisions to make when it comes to the type of Christmas ham you’re going to buy.
Cooked on the bone (COB) ham is the traditional Christmas ham. If you’re buying a half ham, you’ll have the choice of the shank or fillet end. The shank is the part with the bone sticking out that gives the ham that traditional look. The fillet end is the round part that gives more meat. If you’re deciding whether to get a whole ham or half, consider how quickly you’ll be able to eat it all. You only have about a week to eat an opened ham before it will go off, so it can be a good idea to get two halves. That way you can eat one half during the week of Christmas and save the other for January.
Champagne ham has had the bone removed and only has the hock left on, so it’s easier to carve.
Pressed ham – also known as continental ham – has had the bones removed and has been pressed, so it’s also easy to carve.
2. Check the pork percentage
The label on a packaged ham will say what percentage is actually meat. Hams are injected with brine, to keep them moist, and additives. The brine injection level for manufactured hams is usually between 10% and 35% of the ham's weight. A manufacturer that wants to produce a cheap ham will add more water to bump up the weight.
3. Know how to tell if it’s New Zealand pork
By far, most of the hams bought in New Zealand this Christmas will be from pigs reared overseas. New Zealand imports pork from about 25 countries. It’s frustrating for New Zealand pig farmers because this ham can come from farms that don’t have to meet the same animal welfare standards as we have in this country. As a result, overseas meat is often cheaper.
If buying New Zealand pork is important to you, look for:
words on the packaging like ‘New Zealand pork’ or ‘born and raised in New Zealand’
4. Have a good look at the ham
If you’re going to be glazing your ham, look for one that is covered in a finger-thick layer of fat. This will give you the thickness you need to make good score lines.
New Zealand Pork’s website also advises looking for a ham that has a meaty texture rather than one that looks wet or rubbery. It says the ham’s skin should be smooth with even colouring. “If the knuckle is sunken, it may be overcooked. If the rind is buckled or uneven, it may be a sign of dryness.”
5. Ask a lot of questions
If you’re ordering your pork from a butcher, you probably won’t be able to compare hams like you would at the supermarket. So, make sure you ask lots of questions, now that you know what you’re looking for.
You could ask:
Is the ham made from New Zealand born and farmed pork?
What will be its injection percentage?
What flavours will it have?
You could even ask if there’s a glaze the butcher thinks would work particularly well with those flavours.
6. Know what size you’ll need
If the ham is the only meat on your Christmas menu, New Zealand Pork advises allowing 1kg of ham for five people. Or if you’ve got other meat options, 1kg will feed about six to eight people.
7. Know the best hams in New Zealand
The best hams of the year were awarded at the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards earlier in the year so you can check out which ones got medals. Some of them are only available in the city the butcher is based, but a Farmland boneless ham available nationwide won a gold award and Woolworths bone-in and boneless hams picked up bronze.
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