Supermarkets claim GST is a main reason food prices are so much higher than in comparative countries

Latest Stats NZ figures suggest food prices rose about 1.2 percent in the past year.

But Foodstuffs -- owner of New World, Pak'nSave and Four Square -- says it recorded effectively no increase in overall prices.

Managing Director Chris Quin says supermarkets aren't creaming off profits, as some are suggesting.