NZ food prices rise 0.5% in March, driven by cauliflowers, other vegetables

Wednesday 13th April 2016

New Zealand food prices rose in March, led by vegetables such as cauliflowers and lettuce, while lamb led a decline in prices of meat, poultry and fish.

Food prices rose 0.5 percent last month, for a seasonally adjusted gain of 0.8 percent, Statistics New Zealand said. Prices fell 0.1 percent in the March year.

Fruit and vegetable prices rose 1.9 percent in March from February, when they dropped 2.6 percent. Vegetables drove the gains in the latest month, with the price of cauliflowers soaring 66 percent to the highest level since the series began in 1994 and lettuce was up 20 percent. Fruit prices fell 0.4 percent, led by apples, grapes and pears, although on a seasonally adjusted basis they were up 1.3 percent.

"The average price of a 1.5 kilogram head of cauliflower was $8.24” last month, consumer prices manager Matt Haigh said. "A combination of dry weather and high demand has pushed up prices for a range of vegetables."

Food prices account for about 17 percent of the consumers price index, which has tracked below the Reserve Bank's target band of between 1-and-3 percent for more than a year. First-quarter consumer price index figures are scheduled for release next Monday, with a quarter gain projected to be just 0.1 percent, according to UBS, from a decline of 0.5 percent three months earlier.

Prices of meat, poultry and fish fell 0.2 percent last month, led by a 5 percent drop in lamb, which offset a 0.7 percent increase in beef to a new high, the government statistician said. The average price of a kilogram of porterhouse steak was $30.37 in March 2016, compared with $27.28/kg in the same month last year. A kilogram of mince rose to $13.87 from $12.58.

The price of milk fell. The average price of the cheapest available 2 litres of blue-top milk was $3.28 in March 2016, compared with $3.63 in March 2015.

Non-alcoholic drink prices rose 1.9 percent, with energy drink prices jumping 10 percent. Grocery food prices rose 0.3 percent, led by an 8.7 percent gain for confectionary, a 5.3 percent increase for snack foods and a 1.6 percent gain for bread. Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices rose 0.1 percent.

The 0.1 percent decline in annual food prices was led by a 2.7 percent fall for grocery foods, with fresh milk down 9 percent, yoghurt down 13 percent and biscuits down 7.7 percent.

Meat, poultry, and fish prices fell 0.6 percent in the year, led by processed meat, lamb and chicken, while beef gained 9.1 percent. Fruit and vegetable prices rose 3.6 percent in the year, non-alcoholic beverages rose 1 percent, and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased 1.9 percent.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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