Did You Know? Some Facts About What New Zealanders Are Actually Eating.
70% of packaged food in NZ supermarkets is ultra-processed. Imports of ultra-processed food rose 550% in one generation. A few facts worth sitting with.
A few numbers worth sitting with this week.
Around 70% of packaged food in New Zealand supermarkets is ultra-processed. Not some of it. Most of it.
And over the past three decades, New Zealand's imports of ultra-processed food rose from 16 kilograms per person in 1990 to 104 kilograms in 2023. That's a 550% increase — six times more industrially manufactured food than our parents ate — in a single generation.
None of this is anyone's personal failure. It's the food environment most of us are swimming in without really noticing.
Today's challenge is simple. Share this post with someone you know. See if it surprises them.
We've written more about how this happened — and why it's bigger than personal choice — here: New Zealand Isn't Just Importing More Ultra-Processed Food. We're Importing the System That Makes It Normal.
Follow along at organicfoodtogether.nz
Doing the challenge? Share what you find — tag us on Instagram or Facebook
The Organic Week Challenge runs alongside Organic Week 2026, organised by the Soil & Health Association of New Zealand.
Sources: University of Auckland State of the Food Supply NZ report; Garton et al., Globalization and Health, 2026.
