INSIDE: BEST New Zealand food souvenirs and the best New zealand Grocery stores, shops and farmer’s markets to find them in. Updated 2024.
This is the ultimate list of New Zealand food souvenirs and where to find them.
This is a guide on what to buy at a NZ supermarket to make traditional New Zealand food and snacks that locals love to eat. (See below)
Do not leave New Zealand without these NZ food souvenirs, snacks, candy and treats in your suitcase.
Or you’ll regret it!
See below for all the details.
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Best New Zealand Traditional Food
Correct at time of publication on Roam the Gnome. Please check with venue for updates. We apologise in advance if there have been any changes we are unaware of. All prices in NZ dollars, unless otherwise stated
We always head to a local supermarket on all our travels because it’swhere you can learn all the National Food secrets!
The supermarket is the place to discover all the best traditional New Zealand food that the locals are using everyday to make breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Without being “stalkerish”, watch everyday kiwis doing their regular New Zealand food shop to see what the locals put into their trolleys.
Then copy!
Hot tip: Be sure to READ the labels on the tins, bottles, boxes and packets too. There’s great authentic kiwi recipes on many of them.
Related: The MONSTER List of New Zealand Souvenirs and Gift Ideas
Most Popular NZ Food to make – Savoury Foods
The most popular New Zealand dinners include Bacon and Egg Pie, Fried Maori Bread, Leg of Lamb, and Whitebait Fritters.
The most popular snack is onion dip!
(And something to dip in it – carrot sticks, celery sticks, or potato crisps)
Find the simple Onion Dip recipe here
Best New Zealand Cookbooks for Savoury Dishes
The Great New Zealand Cookbook collection features over 200 New Zealand cuisine recipes from eighty of New Zealand’s finest cooks, chefs and bakers.
- Click here to buy now on Amazon.
- Click here to buy now on Fishpond.
The other go-to New Zealand cook book is The Edmonds Cookery book, originally released as Sure to Rise, is a household mainstay in NZ. The Edmonds cookery book has sold over 3 million copies since it was first published in 1908, making it the best-selling New Zealand book by far.
- Click here to buy now on Amazon.
- Click here to buy now on Fishpond.
Image credit: Monica Shaw via Flickr CC BY-4.0
Popular Sweet Treats in New Zealand
Try out a few traditional Kiwi recipes such as Anzac biscuits, Afghan biscuits (pictured above), and jelly slice, but the best food in New Zealand in my opinion is my favourite LOLLY CAKE.
I highly recommend The Great New Zealand Cook The Great New Zealand Baking Book.
It has ALL the favourite New Zealand baking recipes for the popular NZ slices including Lolly Cake.
Image credit: Source unknown
BEST FOOD SOUVENIRS FROM NEW ZEALAND
What to buy in a New Zealand Grocery Store?
The best things to buy in New Zealand for foodies and friends is a selection of popular New Zealand brands of food they can use in their own recipes back home.
You can also buy new food products, condiments, sauces and pantry staples they haven’t tried or used before.
Take a look at our sample of well known Kiwi food you might buy for a fun NZ souvenir gift.
Image credit: Source unknown
No.1: New Zealand Breakfast Foods
New Zealand products you should buy in a New Zealand grocery store for breakfast.
- Skippy cornflakes
- Sanitarium Weeties
- Vogels muesli
- Marmite (as pictured above. Which one are you?)
- Weetbix
No.2: Pantry Staples for savoury dishes
Watties tomato sauce is a pantry staple Kiwis buy from their local grocery store in New Zealand.
So are Watties baked beans and Watties spaghetti in a tin.
- Nestle Reduced Cream and Maggi Onion Soup Mix – to make the famous Kiwi Onion Dip!
- New Zealand Golden Churn butter in a can
- Cerebos brand: Sweet fruit chutney, piccalilli or tomato relish
- Whitlocks brand: Thick mint sauce or Worcester sauce
- Speights Old Dark BBQ sauce
- Watties baked beans, Watties spaghetti, Watties condensed soups
- Watties Bit on the Side sauces, Watties Tomato sauce
- New Zealand’s famous Kaitaia Fire Chilli Pepper Hot Sauce, made with organically grown cayenne chillis
- Waha Wera green hot sauce (Kiwifruit, Habanero and Manuka honey) sauce
No.3: What to buy in New Zealand for friends
You can’t go wrong with any of these kiwi staples.
- Chelsea Golden Syrup
- Feijoa jam
- Golden kiwifruit jam
- NZ Manuka Honey
- Edmonds Brand: Custard Powder, biscuit and cupcake mixes, baking soda, baking powder
- Pavlova egg (never risk that egg white flop again!)
No.4: Traditional Maori Food
Find Charles Royal Maori Food (Kinaki Wild Herbs):
- Dried Kawakawa (Maori bush basil)
- Dried Horopito (Maori pepper)
If you want to experiment with these herbs, take a look at Kai Time, the cookery book of tasty modern Maori food.
There’s recipes including:
- Eel and Whitebait Omelette
- Venison with Blackberry Jus
- Kumara and Potato Rosti and Pikopiko; and
- Roast Garlic and Thyme Prawns on Coconut Jasmine Rice.
Kai Time redefines Maori cuisine by blending traditional Maori ingredients and practices with the many modern culinary styles of New Zealand.
MORE NEW ZEALAND FOOD PRODUCTS
No.5: The Best New Zealand Snacks
New Zealand supermarkets are filled with Kiwi Souvenir options for friends, family, and kids (of all ages!)
Check out the chip aisle, the biscuit aisle, and the drinks aisle to find delicious treats you won’t find anywhere else in the world.
Want to know more about the best NZ souvenirs you can eat? Check our guide to NZ snacks.
RELATED: Best New Zealand Snacks and Drinks Guide
No.6: The Best New Zealand Lollies
NZ sweets rule. There sweet as, bro.
Eskimo lollies in New Zealand are our favourite.
Similar to musk sticks in flavour, these eskimo shaped candy bars are super cute too.
We love Kiwi candy so much, we wrote a guide to it. Take a look.
RELATED: Best New Zealand Candy Guide
Image credit: Molly via Flickr CC BY-ND 2.0
No.7: The Best New Zealand Desserts
Hokey Pokey icecream is the go-to after dinner dessert in New Zealand.
But it’s not my favourite.
That would be Banoffee Pie, a concoction of:
- crushed malt biscuits and butter base
- topped with gooey caramel
- layers of fresh banana, and
- finished with a thick layer of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
This dessert is not originally from New Zealand, (it’s British) but they’ve adopted it, like most things!
New Zealand treats at a gathering
At any barbeque or Kiwi gathering you are likely to find:
- Pavlova (the jury is still out on whether this dessert originated in New Zealand or Australia. Who cares? It’s good!)
- Pineapple Lump Slice
- Chocolate Log
- Strawberry Lamingtons, stuffed with jam and fresh cream
- Chocolate Eclairs, bursting with fresh cream
- Louise Cake Slice – shortcake crust with raspberry jam and coconut meringue
- Vanilla Slice
There’s one dessert my kids always ask their Nana for when we are in NZ.
“Spiders”
A scoop of vanilla ice cream covered with Coke.
This fizz bomb is LOVED by kids all over NZ, so much so you can find the recipe on PAK’nSAVE’s website!
No.8: The Best NZ Chocolate
You’ll be surprised by the range of chocolate available in New Zealand.
While there are only a few major producers of chocolate, there is an abundance of boutique handmade chocolate makers.
The best known and loved is the Whittakers Chocolate brand.
Do yourself a favour and look at their Artisan range.
SO good!
RELATED: Best New Zealand chocolate, including Artisan chocolates & local chocolate Factories.
THE INSIDE SCOOP: WHERE TO FIND NEW ZEALAND SUPERMARKETS
The best New Zealand grocery stores to buy New Zealand food products are:
- New World New Zealand
- PAKn’SAVE
- Fresh Choice New Zealand
- SuperValue foodtown, and
- Countdown New Zealand
Countdown is the largest full service supermarket chains in New Zealand. There are more than 180 stores nationwide.
Four Square has more than 280 smaller supermarkets for groceries across New Zealand, mostly in smaller towns and country destinations.
These New Zealand supermarket chains have all the food you need to make NZ specialities!
Here’s a list of the main New Zealand grocery stores in Auckland.
Most of the bigger Auckland grocery stores are outside of the inner city, so if you want to do a real family shop in grocery stores in New Zealand, you’ll need a car.
Well known Supermarkets in Auckland
Countdown grocery store Auckland:
- Countdown Auckland Metro, 19-25 Victoria St W, Auckland CBD
- Countdown Auckland City, 76 Quay St, Auckland CBD
- Countdown Ponsonby, 4 Williamson Ave, Ponsonby, Auckland
- Countdown Greenlane, 326 Great South Rd, Greenlane, Auckland
- Countdown Mt Eden, Cnr Valley & Dominion Roads, Mount Eden, Auckland
- Countdown Grey Lynn Central, 144 Williamson Ave, Grey Lynn, Auckland
New World Supermarket Auckland:
- New World Metro, 125 Queen St, Auckland CBD, Auckland
- New World Victoria Park, 2 College Hill, Freemans Bay, Auckland
- New World Remuera, 10 Clonbern Rd, Remuera, Auckland
- New World Stonefields, 100 Lunn Ave, Mount Wellington, Auckland
PAK’nSAVE supermarket Auckland
(The cheapest grocery store New Zealand has to offer)
- Lincoln Road, Shopping Centre, Henderson, Auckland
More Grocery Stores in New Zealand
Lim Chhour Asian Supermarkets NZ
- Lim Chhour, 184 Karangahape Rd, Auckland CBD
- Lim Chhour Manukau, 6 Lakewood Ct, Manukau, Auckland
Japan Mart Asian supermarket
- 26-28 Wyndham St, Auckland CBD
Image credit: IxMatex Wu via Flickr CC BY- 2.0
MORE North Island Supermarkets
Here’s a list of more Grocery Stores New Zealand style!
Supermarket Hamilton
Click here for Hamilton supermarkets
Supermarket Tauranga
Click here for Tauranga supermarkets
Supermarket Matamata
Click here for Matamata supermarkets
Supermarket Taupo
Click here for Taupo supermarkets
Supermarket Hawke’s Bay
Click here for Hawkes Bay supermarkets (Napier, Havelock North, Hastings, Wairoa, Taradale)
Image credit: Mark via Flickr CC BY- 2.0
Supermarkets in Wellington
Looking for a Wellington supermarket in New Zealand?
New World Supermarket Wellington
- New World Wellington City, 279 Wakefield St, Te Aro, Wellington
- New World Willis Street Metro, 68-70 Willis St, Wellington
- New World Railway Metro, 2 Bunny St, Pipitea, Wellington
- New World Newtown, 195 Riddiford St, Newtown, Wellington
- New World Miramar, 48 Miramar Ave, Miramar, Wellington
- New World Thorndon, 150 Molesworth St, Thorndon, Wellington
Countdown supermarkets in Wellington
- Countdown Cable Car Lane, 280-284 Lambton Quay, Wellington
- Countdown Kilbirnie, 47 Bay Rd, Kilbirnie, Wellington
- Countdown Tawa, 5 William Earp Pl, Tawa, Wellington
- Countdown Crofton Downs, 124 Churchill Dr, Crofton Downs, Wellington
PAK’nSAVE supermarket in Wellington
- PAK’nSAVE Kilbirnie, 78 Rongotai Rd, Kilbirnie, Wellington
- PAK’nSAVE Porirua, 12 Parumoana St, Porirua
Image credit: Judy via Flickr CC BY- 2.0
MORE South Island Supermarkets
Supermarket Blenheim
Click here for Blenheim supermarkets
Supermarket Nelson
Click here for Nelson supermarkets
Supermarket Christchurch
Click here for Christchurch supermarkets
Image credit: ITravelNZ via Flickr CC BY- 2.0
Supermarket Dunedin
Click here for Dunedin supermarkets
Supermarket Queenstown
Click here for Queenstown supermarkets
Supermarket Invercargill
Click here for Invercargill supermarkets
Which is the best New Zealand Supermarket for saving money?
Pak N Save has a great fuel discount system.
Fuel is so expensive in New Zealand, and food prices are not much better.
Shopping at Pak nSave helps us to save money on food and fuel. It’s why we love to shop there.
Supermarket vouchers for fuel discounts are vital in New Zealand for budget travellers, so take advantage of the discount.
It makes a big difference at the bowser.
Find them at Countdown and New World Supermarket New Zealand too.
Hot Tips: You can also ask for a Tourist Card at Countdown and New World, and get discounts on food at these supermarkets in NZ too.
Image credit: ItravelNZ via Flickr CC BY-2.0
More Places to go Food Shopping in New Zealand
No.1: Local Dairy Convenience Stores in New Zealand
You can also find a local ‘dairy’, which is the term in New Zealand for a convenience store.
Four Square is the dairy you are most likely to see as you travel around New Zealand.
There’s also Night n’ Day convenience stores.
Image credit: ItravelNZ via Flickr CC BY-2.0
No.2: Farmers Markets in New Zealand
Farmers markets in New Zealand are another place to buy fruit and vegetables, ready to eat food, and regional food souvenirs from the local producers.
Visit PaknSave New Zealand supermarket at least once, just for the experience!
Al
Tuesday 22nd of November 2022
In the US, we call the spider thing a "float" & put the ice cream in root beer. Too sweet for me but kids like it. I'm confused why avocados are $28 kilo there. They're 2 to 3 for $1 here - about $2 there.