Tomatoes up 136%, spud prices soaring: Mind-boggling price changes seen over past three years

Thursday, 19 January 2023

In December 2019, a kilo of tomatoes cost an average of $3.69. Now they’re $8.47 a kilo, an increase of 136%.

Once a mildly interesting update, Stat’s NZ’s monthly food price report has morphed into a downright depressing read.

Its latest missive announced an 11.3% annual increase, and economists aren’t rushing to predict any relief.

The annual price hike may be hard to digest, but a comparison of pre- and post-Covid prices reveals some mind-boggling increases.

Here’s how prices for 10 staple foods have changed in the last three years:

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Tomatoes

Back in the good old days, otherwise known as December 2019, a kilogram of tomatoes cost an average of $3.69, according to Stats NZ.

Fast-forward through the Covid-related chaos of closed borders, labour shortages and higher costs for farmers and shoppers were being asked to cough up $8.47/kg last month.

That’s a 136.9% increase over three years, the largest jump on our list. The increase is even harder to swallow when the numbers are run through the Reserve Bank’s inflation calculator, which puts the inflation-adjusted price at just $4.14/kg.

Potatoes

The humble spud has experienced the second-largest price increase over the last few years, rising from $2.13/kg in December 2019 to $3.50/kg last month.

That’s a 64.3% increase and more than $1 over the $2.39/kg inflation-adjusted price.

Eggs

Omelette fans parted with an average of $4.39 in exchange for a dozen eggs pre-Covid – an absolute bargain when compared to the $6.68 average asking price three years later.

The 52.2% increase is well above the 12.3% increase the Reserve Bank calculator says food prices should have risen. At that rate, a dozen would have cost a more palatable $4.93.

Although a lot of the chat about egg prices has centred on the banning of battery chicken cages this year, data from Stats NZ shows the cost of a dozen had been climbing steadily over the last few years, with a sharper spike seen between May and September last year.

Cheese

While most attention falls on the price of tasty cheese, blocks of mild cheddar aren’t getting any cheaper, either.

In fact, a 1kg block was 51% more expensive in December 2022 than in December 2019, increasing from $9.56 to $14.44.

Adjusted for inflation, the 2022 price should have been $10.73.

Freshly ground or instant, the cost of coffee is climbing.

Frozen peas

The price of frozen peas has increased by exactly a third since 2019. A 1kg bag of the vegetable cost an average of $2.40 three years ago but was $3.20 last month, 51 cents above the inflation-adjusted price.

Coffee

It’s no secret the cost of a cafe coffee has climbed thanks to the pandemic, but so has the price of an instant cup of Joe.

A 100g bag of instant coffee cost $5.43 in 2019 but was 23% more expensive last month at an average of $6.68. Adjusted for inflation, the price should have been $6.10.

Milk prices have risen, but only slightly ahead of inflation. (File photo)

Sausages

With the cost of a kilogram of sausages rising 21% from $10.72 to $12.97, Saturday morning sausage sizzle operators must be rethinking their prices.

Adjusted for inflation, the 2022 price should have been almost $1 less last month, at $12.04.

Chicken

Ah, chicken – New Zealand’s favourite meat. We love the multi-purpose protein, but we’re paying almost 21% more for it than we did pre-pandemic.

At the end of 2019, a kilogram of chicken breast cost an average of $12.95. The same weight now costs $15.60, well above the $14.54/kg inflation-adjusted price.

Milk

Although milk prices have risen, from $3.56 to $4.05 for a two-litre bottle of the standard variety, the 13.8% increase is only slightly above inflation.

A 12.3% increase would have taken the price to $4 a bottle.

Bread

Basic white bread is the only item on our list not to have kept pace with inflation.

According to Stats NZ, the price of a 600g loaf of sliced white bread has risen by 11.6% since December 2019, from an average of $1.29 to $1.44.

That’s just 1 cent lower than the $1.45 inflation-adjusted price calculated by the Reserve Bank.

How are you keeping your grocery bills down? Tell us in the comments below!