Focusing on colourful fruits and vegetables not only brightens our day, but provides important nutrients, antioxidants and fibre our body needs. Photo / 123rf
Focusing on colourful fruits and vegetables not only brightens our day, but provides important nutrients, antioxidants and fibre our body needs. Photo / 123rf
Opinion by Liam Dann
Liam Dann, Business Editor at Large for New Zealand’s Herald, works as a writer, columnist, radio commentator and as a presenter and producer of videos and podcasts.
The food price data that dropped today was still ugly.
But at 10.3 per cent, the annual rate of increase was lower than expected, and down on the 11.3 per cent rise for the year to December.
It might be a small mercy to those struggling with rising grocerybills, but the peak is important and offers some hope that we may see inflation trend down in the coming months.
It was the lowest annual increase since October 2022.
On a monthly basis, food prices rose 1.7 per cent in January 2023 compared with December 2022. After adjusting for seasonal effects, they were up 0.3 per cent.
That compares well with the (unadjusted) 2.7 per cent rise we had in January 2022.
Of course, the data won’t have captured the impact of the Auckland floods late last month or the latest, more widespread cyclone damage.
Vegetable growers have warned that prices for fresh produce will have to rise as the country copes with weather-related shortages.
ASB senior economist Mark Smith noted the softer-than-expected result but didn’t linger on a positive note.
“Despite a slower pace of seasonally-adjusted increases, today’s figures confirmed food price rises are widespread,” he said.
“What’s more, the impact of the North Island storms is expected to push food prices higher still in the coming months.”
Extensive flooding at Awatoto seen from above the Napier Golf Course. Photo / Photography by Corena
The data confirmed what those of us who do the grocery shopping already knew.
Grocery food was the largest contributor to the monthly movement.
“Increasing prices for cheddar cheese, barn or cage-raised eggs, and potato chips were the largest drivers within grocery food,” consumer prices manager James Mitchell said.
Recent egg shortages as farmers struggle to get up to speed with new welfare regulations won’t have helped the top-line numbers.
The second-largest contributor to the annual movement was restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food.
Grocery food prices increased by 11 per cent
Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food increased by 8.3 per cent
Fruit and vegetable prices increased by 16 per cent
Meat, poultry, and fish prices increased by 9.2 per cent
Non-alcoholic beverage prices increased by 7.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, the data for rents also showed that the pace of increases was slowing.
Rents (for the stock measure) rose 0.2 per cent (month on month), with the three-monthly rate of increase easing to 0.8 per cent, the lowest rate of increase since late 2021.
Annual dwelling rental inflation eased to 3.8 per cent.
But that story also came with a weather-related caveat, ASB’s Smith warned.
“A storm-assisted boost to dwelling rents, construction costs, dwelling maintenance and insurance could push overall non-tradable inflation higher.”
