A sharp rise in tomato prices helped push food prices up 0.7 per cent in March, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said today.
Releasing the Food Price Index for the month, SNZ said tomatoes increased 79.9 per cent in price during March, contributing to a 3.1 per cent risein the fruit and vegetable subgroup.
Apples were down 24 per cent and kumara down 26.9 per cent.
Grocery food prices rose 0.4 per cent in the month, restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food were up 0.6 per cent, and non-alcoholic beverages up 1.4 per cent.
Meat, poultry and fish were down 0.1 per cent.
For the year to March, food prices rose 6 per cent, with the grocery food subgroup up 9 per cent, restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food up 4.7 per cent, non-alcoholic beverages up 7.1 per cent, meat, poultry and fish up 2.7 per cent, and fruit and vegetables up 2.9 per cent.
