Upsetting trolley photo reveals devastating pre-Christmas issue

A devastating photo of a trolley of groceries has offered an upsetting glimpse into just how much households are struggling.

A detail in a photo of a trolley barely filled with enough groceries to last one person a week has struck a chord with thousands for a truly sad reason.

The trolley contained only a handful of items including broccoli, milk, bananas, rice cakes, pumpkin and Kiwi fruit, and was shared online by musician Sarah Foley last week.

Foley, the musician behind New Zealand band Blake, revealed the small haul had set her back a whopping $NZ90 ($A85).

“Do you genuinely believe this amount of groceries is worth $90?” she questioned in a voice over, addressing New Zealand’s answer to supermarket Countdown.

“This is all I could buy for $90 and this will last me three days if that. There’s no meat. I haven’t even bought any meat,” she said.

Foley took aim at the retailer in her previous video, calling it out for being “tone deaf” after it shared behind the scenes footage from the production of a Christmas pavlova advertisement.

“Can we talk about for a second how tone deaf this Countdown ad is?” she said.

The supermarket’s video showed a pavlova being repeatedly handed from one set of hands to another.

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These few items cost a whopping $90. Picture: TikTok/blakemusicnz

Countdown was slammed for being ‘tone deaf’. Picture: TikTok/blakemusicnz

“It honestly made me laugh so much,” Foley said.

The retailer – New Zealand’s answer to Woolworths – responded to the criticism in a comment to Foley after she asked: “Is this why you charge so much for food? Because you spend thousands paying people to hand plates of food to each other”.

“Unfortunately inflationary factors like freight, fuel and supply costs are contributing to higher prices right across the food industry,” a spokesperson wrote.

“Along with our supply partners, we’re doing everything we can to work around higher costs and provide value to our shoppers for the holiday season.”

Few have avoided the worst of rising living costs with Kiwis last month urged to “think about saving rather than consuming” by New Zealand Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr.

His comment came after the country’s central bank increased interest rates by three-quarters of a point to 4.25 per cent.

The rate was the highest in New Zealand since early 2009.

Meanwhile, in Australia the Reserve Bank has forecast inflation to peak at 8 per cent by the end of 2022.

@blakemusicnz Replying to @Countdown Supermarkets ♬ original sound - Blake

It comes amid research from the Salvation Army that found 99 per cent of people surveyed were concerned about affording Christmas this year.

Of the parents, 62 per cent worried about affording presents for their kids.

The organisation was experiencing a “tsunami of need” due to the cost of living crisis, according to its Major, Bruce Harmer.

“We are deeply concerned to hear about the agonising choices everyday Australians are making, such as deciding whether to pay an electricity bill or buy a Christmas present for their child,” Major Harmer said.

“Others are choosing to go without food and medication to ensure their children have food on the table.

“The guilt and emotional toll of not being able to provide the basics for their family is the real but often hidden cost of financial hardship.”

Originally published as Upsetting trolley photo reveals devastating pre-Christmas issue