Record prices for zucchini and cucumbers during Australian imports ban

Thursday, 13 August 2020

Auckland's Spark Arena was transformed into a food bank to help feed thousands of households going hungry during the lockdown (video first published in June).

The price of zucchini and cucumbers rose more than 30 per cent in July as imports from Australia continue to be banned due to a plant virus, Stats NZ data reveals.

Prices for zucchini, also known as courgettes, rose 38 per cent to a weighted average price of $29.60 a kilogram, up from a previous record high of $21.42 a kg in June. Some reports showed zucchini prices reaching up to $38.99 per kilo.

“In July, courgettes cost almost as much as a kilo of either sirloin steak or fresh fish,' Stats NZ consumer prices manager Nicola Growden said.

Cucumber prices rose almost 32 per cent in July to a record high of $18.63 a kg. A $6.54 increase from the same time last year.

Growden said price hikes for fruits and vegetables were normal during winter but the ban on imports from Queensland caused a spike in zucchini prices.

Zucchinis were spotted at a central Wellington supermarket for $38.99 a kilogram.

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Prices for zucchini would probably fall when the New Zealand growing season picked up in spring or if imports from Queensland resumed, Growden said.

More than a quarter of people’s food budget was spent on restaurants and ready-to-eat meals.

While the price of fruit and vegetables rose 9.8 per cent last month, overall food prices rose 1.2 per cent in July, mainly influenced by seasonally higher prices for tomatoes, lettuce, and broccoli.

“We tend to see many vegetables reaching peak prices around July during the middle of winter, as the local supply of many crops is limited,” Growden said.

This rise has been partly offset by grocery food prices falling 1.1 per cent in July, mainly because of cheaper dairy products.

“Dairy prices are influenced by global prices, with the global dairy trade auction price for cheddar down more than 21 per cent between April 21 and June 2,” Growden said.

“We typically see domestic dairy prices follow global price trends after a lag of about three to six months.”

Aucklanders spent about a third of their food budget on restaurants meals and takeaways.

Eating out was more expensive as restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food increased 3.9 per cent for the year ended July 31 due to higher labour costs.

“The increase in the minimum wage in April coincided with the increase in the cost of restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food,” Growden said.

The minimum wage rose from $17.70 to $18.90 an hour.

Yet, New Zealanders had been spending more on takeaways and restaurant meals, and less on fruit and vegetables than three years ago.

Every three years, Stats NZ calculates how much the average New Zealander spends on various foods.

More than a quarter (27 per cent) of the food budget was spent on restaurants and ready-to-eat meals, including things like burgers and takeaway coffee. Up slightly from 26 per cent in 2017.

In contrast, the share of spending on fruit and vegetables has fallen slightly to 13 per cent of the food basket compared with 15 per cent in 2017.

Stats NZ prices senior manager Aaron Beck said in the past three years, changes in prices and consumer spending patterns led to less spending on fruit and vegetables.

Aucklanders spent about a third of their food budget on restaurants meals and takeaways compared to a national average of 27 per cent.

Outside the main centres, households spend less than the national average on eating out or takeaways, at 22 per cent of their food budget.

“In 2000, the average Kiwi household spent about a fifth (22 per cent) of its food budget on restaurant meals and takeaways, but that has risen steadily to more than a quarter (27 per cent) in 2020,” Beck said.

But the average spending on grocery food and non-alcoholic beverages fell from 50 per cent in 2000 to 44 per cent in this year.