Waitoa launches QR-enabled campaign to trace free range chicken
Poultry producer Waitoa is launching a new campaign, complete with on-pack QR codes, giving Kiwis the ability to trace their free range chicken back to the farms where it was raised.
Food prices fell 0.9% in September 2016, influenced by seasonally lower prices for vegetables and cheaper chicken prices, Statistics New Zealand says.
Chicken prices fell 0.9% for the month, and 11% over the year to September 2016. Prices have fallen on an annual basis for the last 16 months to reach their lowest level since October 2007.
"Chicken prices peaked in December 2014, when the average price of a kilo of chicken breasts was $16.60," consumer prices manager Matt Haigh says.
"In September 2016 the average price had fallen to $13.52.
“The generally falling prices for chicken in recent months are the result of expanded investment in farming operations by the New Zealand poultry industry," Poultry Industry Association executive director Michael Brooks says. "With supply decisions being made one to two years ahead, temporary periods of under- or over-supply can occur and affect prices accordingly.”
Chicken consumed in New Zealand is locally produced, so prices can fluctuate in the local market.
Fruit and vegetable prices fell 5.1% in September 2016, reflecting seasonally lower prices for tomatoes, capsicum, lettuce, and cucumber. After seasonal adjustment, fruit and vegetable prices rose 0.4%.
Overall food prices increased 0.1% in the year to September 2016.
Legal controls on the movement of fruits and vegetables are now in place in Auckland’s Mt Roskill suburb, says Biosecurity New Zealand Commissioner North Mike Inglis.
Arable growers worried that some weeds in their crops may have developed herbicide resistance can now get the suspected plants tested for free.
Fruit growers and exporters are worried following the discovery of a male Queensland fruit fly in Auckland this week.
Dairy prices have jumped in the overnight Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, breaking a five-month negative streak.
Alliance Group chief executive Willie Wiese is leaving the company after three years in the role.
A booklet produced in 2025 by the Rotoiti 15 trust, Department of Conservation and Scion – now part of the Bioeconomy Science Institute – aims to help people identify insect pests and diseases.

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