Cheaper tomatoes pull food prices down
Tuesday, 14 December 2021
Tomato prices plummeted from $12 to $6 a kilogram in November, but the salad staple still cost much more than a year ago.
Data from Stats NZ shows overall food prices fell 0.6 per cent in November compared with the previous month, mainly influenced by lower prices for tomatoes.
Tomato prices fell 49 per cent to an average of $6.16 a kilo last month, down from $12.04 in October.
However, the November price was 54 per cent higher than a year ago, when tomatoes had an average price of $3.99 a kilo, Stats NZ consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery said.
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Monthly fruit and vegetable prices fell 6.7 per cent in November. As well as lower tomato prices, there were lower prices for broccoli, strawberries, and potatoes.
These falls were partly offset by higher prices for apples, kiwifruit, and carrots.
Cheaper prices for fruit and vegetables were partly offset by higher prices for grocery food (up 0.7 per cent) and non-alcoholic beverages (up 1.6 per cent).
On a seasonally adjusted basis, overall food prices rose by 0.3 per cent in November.
“The 0.3 per cent rise in prices after adjusting for seasonal effects shows that food prices fell by less than they usually do in November,” Dewbery said.
Fruit and vegetables and grocery food are the only two categories that are seasonally adjusted as they have identifiable seasonal patterns.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, fruit and vegetable prices fell 2.3 per cent, and grocery food prices rose 0.3 per cent.
Annually, food prices increased 4.0 per cent in November, mainly due to higher prices for grocery food (up 4.2 per cent) and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 4.6 per cent).
“November’s annual movement is similar to the annual movements for the last few months,” Dewbery said.
“However, these price increases are higher than they were earlier in the year.”