By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE
The cost of fruit and vegetables jumped 5 per cent last month, partly pushed up by difficult growing conditions.
After removing normal seasonal changes, the price of fresh vegetables jumped 8.5 per cent and fresh fruit by 4.1 per cent.
The rises pushed food prices up 1.6 per cent between December and January. They were now 4 per cent higher than in January last year, said Statistics New Zealand.
Government Statistician Brian Pink said that although fruit and vegetable prices were frequently volatile month to month, increases had occurred in each of the past four months. The most significant contributors to higher food prices were potatoes, broccoli and bread.
The price of broccoli increased 58 per cent over the month.
Don Turner, managing director of major fruit and vege distributor Turners and Growers, blamed the unsettled weather and difficult growing conditions during winter and spring, which meant few produce lines were in normal full supply.
"The unusual thing is that it has applied right across the country to virtually all the lines we sell."
Prices were driven by availability, he said. "No two seasons are ever the same and we are dealing in a perishable product."
Although it had not been spectacularly cloudy, stormy or cold, weather had been unseasonal. Sunshine hours had been absent at critical growing times.
Green vegetables, potatoes, onions, salad lines and a broad range of fruit were in short supply, forcing prices up.
Imports such as bananas, citrus fruit and grapes had been more expensive due to our low dollar.
Progressive Enterprises managing director Ted Van Arkel said the January food price increases had been in the pipeline since December, driven mainly by an 8 per cent jump in the price of sugar.
Progressive Enterprises owns Foodtown, Countdown and 3 Guys supermarkets.
Fruit and vegetable prices up
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