Food prices pushed up by grocery food

Food prices increased 0.9 percent in the December 2007 month, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The increase was mainly due to higher prices for the grocery food subgroup (up 1.4 percent) and the fruit and vegetables subgroup (up 2.6 percent).

Within the grocery food subgroup, the main contributors to the 1.4 percent increase were higher prices for cheddar cheese (up 13.9 percent), butter (up 22.1 percent) and chocolate biscuits (up 11.4 percent). The most significant downward contributions came from lower prices for potato crisps (down 4.8 percent), boxed chocolates (down 9.9 percent) and yoghurt (down 4.6 percent).

The fruit and vegetables subgroup, which rose 2.6 percent, was mainly driven by higher prices for apples (up 27.0 percent), potatoes (up 7.6 percent) and kumara (up 17.5 percent). The most significant downward contributions came from lower prices for tomatoes (down 14.1 percent) and broccoli (down 25.3 percent).

For the year to December 2007, food prices rose 5.4 percent. All subgroups recorded upward contributions, with the most significant upward contribution coming from higher prices for the grocery food subgroup (up 7.8 percent). This was followed by, in order of significance, meat, poultry and fish (up 6.0 percent), restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 4.0 percent), non-alcoholic beverages (up 5.6 percent) and fruit and vegetables (up 0.6 percent).