Highest annual food price rise in a decade as cost of tomatoes doubles

Thursday, 20 January 2022

Tomato prices doubled in 2021, driving the highest annual food price increase in a decade, according to Stats NZ.

Ongoing labour shortages due to Covid-19 and a virus affecting tomato crops combined to push the price of the salad staple up by 99 per cent in the year to December 2021.

“The weighted average price of a kilogram of tomatoes increased from $3.33 in December 2020 to $6.61 in December 2021,” Stats NZ consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery​ said.

The spike in tomato prices was the main contributor to a 4.5 per cent in food prices over the same period, the largest annual increase since September 2011, when prices rose by 4.7 per cent.

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Earlier this month, Countdown spokeswoman Kiri Hannifin said higher tomato prices were being driven by reduced availability.

“Currently, a disease called Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) is impacting New Zealand growers, this affects how quickly tomatoes grow and the yield in which the plants produce,” she said.

“Due, in part, to the impact of this disease, New Zealand growers have generally planted fewer tomatoes due to their inability to export.

“At the same time last year growers had a lot more tomatoes available, but were unable to export them. This led to the New Zealand market having an abundance of tomatoes.”

Higher prices for tomatoes were partly offset by cheaper prices for kiwifruit, kumara, and avocados.

Grocery foods, including yoghurt, milk and eggs, had the biggest impact on the annual food prices, increasing 4.5 per cent overall, Dewbery said.

Although restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased 5.1 per cent, households spend more on grocery food. Therefore, price changes for grocery food have more impact on the index.

Food prices rose 0.6 per cent in December 2021 compared with the previous month.

There were higher prices for fruit and vegetables (up 2.6 per cent), restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 0.8 per cent) and grocery food (up 0.6 per cent).

These were partly offset by lower prices for non-alcoholic beverages (down 1.2 per cent) and meat, poultry, and fish (down 0.6 per cent)

Higher prices for potatoes, onions, and apples were partly offset by lower prices for nectarines, courgettes, and cucumbers.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, overall food prices rose 0.6 per cent. This shows that food prices increased by more than they usually do in December.