Olive oil and butter push food prices higher

Friday, 11 October 2024

Middle income schools are increasingly joining the KidsCan waitlist as the cost of living bites.

Food prices are still increasing with a 1.2% rise in the 12 months to September 2024 - all thanks to a few key ingredients.

The increase followed a 0.4% increase in the 12 months to August 2024, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

Higher prices for restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food and grocery food drove the annual increase in food prices, up 3.5% and 2.7%, respectively.

The price of lunch/brunch, takeaway coffee and hamburgers continued to push prices up.

Meanwhile olive oil, butter and chocolate biscuits were behind the price increase in grocery food.

“The price for a 1-litre bottle of olive oil has increased by about 58% since this time last year, with an average price of $21.56,” consumer prices manager Nicola Growden said.

But it wasn’t all bad news - despite an overall increase in food prices, decreasing prices in the fruit and vegetables group had the largest impact on food prices, falling 8.3% annually.

Kūmara prices fell 57.5%, potato prices fell 27.4% and onion prices fell 43.7% annually.

“The average price of 1kg of onions was $1.68 in September 2024. This is the cheapest recorded price since 2012,” Growden said.