Which region scoops the prize for best value chips?

We recruited 22 chip lovers from different parts of the New Zealand to fritter away their time for us and buy and weigh a scoop of chips and send us their results (yes, they could eat them afterwards).

Our 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. What our chip fans paid varied from $2.50 per scoop up 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 (510g).

Cheap-as chips

Our survey found Northland the cheapest region to buy a scoop of chips – the average cost per 100g was 73¢.

The next two cheapest shops were in Hamilton, which was also the second cheapest region at 80¢ per 100g.

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

The winner is...

The shop with the best value scoop? Moerewa Takeaways in Northland . One scoop cost $3.00 and weighed more than half a kilo! It was the best value of all our surveyed takeaways.

Moerewa Takeaways owner Tiki Pedro was stoked to get our call congratulating him on his chip generosity.

He said the shop probably goes through about 50kg 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.”

His store is open Tuesday to Saturday, and it gets pretty busy most days after 4pm.

“Some people have to wait three-quarters of an hour. It can be really stressful.”

Despite Northland being at Covid level 2, Tiki said he doesn’t take any risks.

“I talk to customers outside the door, everything is set up, nobody comes inside, and I’ve got a sign outside saying ‘if you want to live, get vaccinated’.”