Meat causes rise in food price index

Food prices increased 0.6 percent in the September 2008 month, Statistics New Zealand said today. The main contribution to the increase was from the meat, poultry and fish subgroup (up 3.7 percent), driven by higher prices for beef (up 6.8 percent), fresh chicken (up 5.8 percent), and pork (up 11.9 percent).

Fruit and vegetable prices decreased 2.2 percent, following strong increases for the previous four months caused by unusually wet weather. The most significant downward contribution came from lower prices for lettuce (down 20.6 percent), and cucumber (down 43.8 percent). The main upward contribution came from higher prices for tomatoes (up 16.3 percent).

Other subgroups that made upward contributions to the rise in food prices were grocery food (up 0.5 percent), restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 0.4 percent), and non-alcoholic beverages (up 0.3 percent). The most significant upward contribution came from higher prices for yoghurt (up 11.6 percent).

For the year to September 2008, food prices rose 10.8 percent. This annual increase is the highest since April 1990 when food prices increased 11.4 percent, which incorporates the GST increase from 10.0 to 12.5 percent in the July 1989 month.

All five subgroups recorded upward contributions to the annual increase, with the most significant contribution coming from the grocery food subgroup (up 12.8 percent). Within this subgroup, higher prices were recorded for cheddar cheese (up 61.6 percent), bread (up 16.5 percent), and fresh milk (up 12.6 percent).

The remaining four subgroups recorded the following upward contributions: fruit and vegetables (up 17.9 percent), meat, poultry and fish (up 8.8 percent), restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 6.3 percent), and non-alcoholic beverages (up 6.9 percent).