Cheaper meat and veges push food prices down

Photo / Martin Sykes

Cheaper meat and vegetables pushed down food prices in April to levels not seen since late 2009.

Food prices fell 0.5 per cent last month from March, according to Statistics New Zealand's Food Price Index, with a 2.6 per cent decline in meat, poultry and fish prices, and a 1.7 per cent fall in fruit and vegetable prices.

The biggest contributors were cheaper chicken, down 4.7 per cent, a 36 per cent drop in kiwifruit prices, and a decline of 9.5 per cent for coffee.

The biggest increases in prices were a 1.9 per cent gain in soft drinks, snack foods up 4.1 per cent and strawberries recording a gain of 22 per cent.

Grocery foods was the only sub-group to rise in the latest period, gaining 0.7 per cent in April.

The department said kiwifruit prices were traditionally lower in April when the new season's crop hits the market, though chick and coffee were both discounted during the month.

Food prices are 0.4 per cent higher than they were in April 2009, according to the government data, led by a 2.3 per cent annual gain in grocery prices, 1.9 per cent for restaurant meals and 1.7 per cent for non-alcoholic beverages.

Fruit and vegetables fell 5 per cent over the past year, and meat, poultry and fish dropped 2.2 per cent. Though prices are marginally up over the past year, they are still 8.1 per cent above where they were in 2008.