Meat pushes food prices to fifth consecutive rise

The rises in food prices for August, while modest, mark a fifth consecutive monthly rise.

Meat, poultry and fish prices were up 1.3% in August.

This was mainly influenced by higher prices for roasting pork (up 11%), sausages (up 3.5%), lamb chops (up 5.4%) and porterhouse and sirloin steak (up 2.3%).

This was partially offset by lower prices for chicken, which were down 3.3%.

“Covid-19 restrictions had a minimal effect on price collection in August,” says Stats NZ consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery.

Fruit and vegetable prices also increased in August, up 0.4%. This was largely due to higher prices for tomatoes (up 16%) and grapes (up 32%).

However, after adjusting for seasonal effects, fruit and vegetable prices fell by 0.2%.

“The weighted average price of both tomatoes and grapes rose sharply to $15.79 and $11.52 per kilogram, respectively,” Dewbery says.

“The prices of tomatoes previously peaked at $13.65 in August 2020, while grape prices peaked at $10.61 in November 2020,” Dewbery says.

These rises were partly offset by falling prices for broccoli (down 26%), strawberries (down 19%), capsicums (down 12%), and avocados (down 21%).