Chicken up, apples down as NZ food prices remain stable

By NZPA

Monday 12th March 2007

Higher prices for chicken and tomatoes were countered by cheaper apples and chocolate as food prices remained almost stable in February, rising just 0.1%.

Poultry prices were up 7.1% during the month as prices in the meat, poultry and fish subgroup as a whole increased 1.7%.

Minced beef rose 5%, but mutton, lamb and hogget were down 2.5%.

And while the fruit and vegetables subgroup fell 2.6%, tomatoes were up 19.2%, oranges up 17.6% and kumara up 25.2%, the latest Food Price Index published today by Statistics New Zealand shows.

The main factor holding the subgroup down was a 26.7% fall in the price of apples.

The grocery food subgroup was up 0.2%, with chocolate down 3.3%, the restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food subgroup increased 0.4%, and non-alcoholic beverages were also up 0.4%.

The 0.1% February month rise followed an increase in food prices of 1.4% in January and a decrease of 0.5% in December.

For the year to February, food prices were up 4.5%, following increases of 3.4% and 2.7% for the years to January and December, respectively.

The most significant subgroup rise for the year was in fruit and vegetables which were up 18.5%, with meat, poultry and fish up 5.5%, restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food up 3.3%, grocery food up 1.4%, and non-alcoholic beverages up 2.9%.

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