Food inflation has accelerated across the board, with grocery prices rising 5.2%, and meat, poultry, and fish up 5.4% year-on-year. Butter, cheese (+30.1%), and milk (+15.1%) are cited as primary drivers behind this surge. These increases reflect a broader trend in daily essentials becoming increasingly unaffordable for consumers.

Hospitality leaders in Dunedin are sounding the alarm over the burden on their businesses. Mark Scully, president of Hospitality NZ’s Otago branch, described the butter price as “frightening” and noted that operators have no choice but to transfer these costs to customers to avoid unsustainable losses.

Kieran Turnbull, who oversees multiple eateries between Arrowtown and Lake Hayes, emphasized butter’s central role in menus—from pastries to sauces—and warned that deep price hikes are being felt more acutely today than during the pandemic. Despite varied pricing strategies across venues, inflationary impacts are unavoidable.