Wakeup call

It’s not often that a television show can show you how to save thousands of dollars and live well, writes Siena Yates.

USUALLY, when a show comes to New Zealand from overseas it's difficult to see the point past jumping on the bandwagon (I'm still expecting a Kiwi version of The Chase), but, thankfully, that's not the case with Eat Well For Less NZ.

The New Zealand version of the British series started here last week and while it sticks pretty reliably to the UK format, the major difference is that it's telling Kiwi stories, using Kiwi brands and, more importantly, Kiwi prices.

If you're unfamiliar with the format, the general gist is that a team of experts find families around the nation who are spending way too much on food that is mostly trash. They then replace the family's usual food items with cheaper and healthier ‘‘swaps’’ to see if the family can tell the difference between the brands they love and the alternatives that could save them hundreds.

They quickly discovered a pattern of families doing a massive weekly grocery shop full of many of the right things — fresh produce, lean meats, grains — and then putting it all in the fridge to rot while they blow hundreds on convenience snacks and takeaways.

Here in New Zealand, things are shaping up much the same as chef Michael Van de Elzen and restaurateur Ganesh Raj take over people's pantries across the country.

The first episode focused on the James family, in which everyone has a major sweet tooth — Mum buys four to five blocks of Whittaker's chocolate a week and Dad's got a major Demon Energy drink problem. The problem's become so bad that their 4yearold son, Gareth, refuses to eat a vegetable unless it's well disguised and has a complete meltdown upon discovering he can no longer access his treats.

Thankfully, Eat Well

For Less doesn't feel as exploitatively judgemental as the UK version sometimes does. There's a little bit of poking fun at the supermarket, but in a way that feels designed to break the obvious tension.

The focus isn't on making people feel bad for not knowing what an avocado is, it's on the money and, more specifically, the savings.

The James family was spending about $500 a week on their grocery shop plus another $350 on

Uber Eats in the same week. The Eat Well team did the math and figured out they were spending about $45,000 on food a year.

That's more than many people even make in a year.

The craziest part is that they were surprised. I've had a sneak peek at tonight’s episode, in which a couple are similarly stunned by their $600 supermarket bill. Which begs the question; were they just completely zoning out at the checkout before?

If my grocery bill got anywhere near $500$600 you'd have to pick me up off the shop floor. But then the same could be said for other people who got my bill — it's all about what becomes normal.

The main culprit? Convenience.

Eat Well For Less, at least in some small part, may well wake us up to those potential savings by comparing everyday products such as jam and mayonnaise to show us just how much we could save if we just ignored branding.

This is especially important because I'm painfully aware that much of Eat Well won't be relatable for most Kiwis. Spending upward of $800 a week on food is very much a richpeople problem.

However, those small savings on jam or mayonnaise are savings that all Kiwis can take on board and for that reason, Eat Well For Less could fast become a Kiwi viewing staple.

Eat Well For Less NZ screens tonight at 7.30 on TVNZ 1. It is also available on TVNZ On Demand.