KEY POINTS:
Food prices dipped 0.1 per cent in August, according to Statistics New Zealand's Food Price Index published today.
The decrease was mainly due to a 3 per cent fall in the price of fruit and vegetables.
Within the fruit and vegetables group, the main contributors were avocados (down 50 per cent), brassica (down 17.2 per cent), courgettes (down 29.2 per cent), and oranges (down 16.3 per cent).
These falls were partly offset by higher prices for frozen vegetables (up 6.0 per cent) and apples (up 6.4 per cent).
The main upward contribution came from higher prices for the meat, poultry and fish group (up 1.1 per cent). Poultry was up 2.3 per cent and beef 1.3 per cent.
For the year to August, food prices rose 3.4 per cent with prices up for all groups.
The most significant upward contribution came from higher prices for the meat, poultry and fish group (up 8.4 per cent).
Less significant upward contributions came from restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 3.7 per cent), grocery food (up 2.0 per cent), non-alcoholic beverages (up 3.0 per cent), and fruit and vegetables (up 1.1 per cent).
- NZPA
