Small towns, big scoops: Consumer NZ finds best value hot chips

Consumer NZ recruited 22 chip lovers from across the country to buy and weigh a scoop of chips, finding there are differences in the value.

The survey found the best value scoop is at Moerewa Takeaways in Northland. One scoop cost $3.00 and weighed over half a kilo. Moerewa Takeaways owner Tiki Pedro said the shop probably goes through about 10kg of chips in a day.

“We don’t actually weigh our chips, just scoop them. When people buy bigger orders, we give them extra chips. And sometimes the school will order $50 of chips, so we probably add another five scoops.”

Consumer NZ mystery shoppers bought scoops of deep-fried potato goodness in Dunedin, Tasman, Wellington, Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay, Hamilton, Waihi, Auckland and Northland.

The average price of a scoop was $3.59, and the cost varied from $2.50 to $4.60.

An average scoop of chips weighed 365g. Again, there were some starch contrasts – the lightest was 230g and the heaviest more than twice that at 510g.

The survey found Northland the cheapest region to buy a scoop of chips – the average cost per 100g was 73¢. The second cheapest region was Hamilton (80¢ per 100g).

The most expensive scoops were found in Auckland and Tasman. Both regions had an average cost of $1.19 per 100g.

“It can be hard to know exactly how many chips you're going to wind up with when you order a scoop. We’ve found that small towns tended to be more generous with their chips. Not all scoops were created equal with price differences and quantities varying greatly from chip shop to chip shop,” Consumer NZ head of content Caitlin Cherry said.

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