Food prices up 10.7% in November compared to same time last year

Tuesday, 13 December 2022

Food prices jumped almost 11% year-on-year last month.

Food prices were 10.7% higher in November than the same time last year, Stats NZ says.

Grocery food was the largest contributor to the increase.

“Increasing prices for cheddar cheese, yoghurt, and standard two-litre milk were the largest drivers within grocery food,” consumer prices manager James Mitchell said.

The second-largest contributor to the annual movement was fruit and vegetables, which were up 20% year-on-year.

The items within this group that influenced the movement the most were potatoes, onions, and bananas.

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The price of tomatoes dropped 42% in November compared to the same time last year.

The price of onions was up 28%, potatoes up 10% and kiwifruit up 26%.

Monthly food prices were flat in November 2022 compared with October 2022. After adjusting for seasonal effects, they were up 1%.

All other broad food groups rose in price. A 1.1% monthly rise in grocery food was the biggest upwards contributor, led by yoghurt, potato chips, and cheddar cheese.

“It’s typical to see food prices fall in November due to falling fruit and vegetable prices. However, fruit and vegetable prices did not fall as much as in a typical November,” Mitchell said.

Fruit and vegetable prices fell 4.7%. After adjusting for seasonal effects, fruit and vegetable prices rose 0.9%

Tomatoes down 42%, broccoli down 44% and strawberries were down 35%.

United Fresh president Jerry Prendergast, said the challenges faced by businesses in the horticulture industry this year had been significant, which affected the price of produce.

“The weather has actually been the largest cause of disruption to growers throughout the year. A particularly wet autumn left many around the country struggling to maintain a steady supply through the winter months,” he said.

Unusually for Aotearoa, the weather bombs that disrupted early plantings hit in virtually every region, rather than just in isolated areas, so the impact was felt nationwide.

Further damaging spring frosts in early October gave the blueberry crop a knock and caused significant damage to both kiwifruit vines and apricot trees, Prendergast said.

December would bring a steady supply of fresh produce and stable pricing on seasonal fruit and vegetables, though inconsistencies in fresh greens would still exist with frequent flushes of growth flooding the market then disappearing for a few weeks at a time.

The ongoing gaps in the supply of basics such as broccoli and lettuce could be traced to the earlier weather disruptions and should come to an end as the warmer months enabled a consistent planting cycle, he said.

“While blueberries will be lower in volume this summer, the country’s other berry crops came through the extreme weather with flying colours. Strawberries recovered quickly from the cold and are just reaching their best this month, while raspberries are also looking fantastic.”

In addition to bad weather, growers struggled with rising costs throughout the past year from fuel, fertiliser and higher labour costs.

“Looking ahead to 2023, the labour shortage is slowly improving, and we’re expecting constant improvements in that area. We’re also seeing industry members take a good hard look at their expenses as we head into a tightening economy.”