Dairy and veg prices fall at Foodstuffs stores
Shoppers paid less at the checkout for cheese, butter and ice cream at Foodstuff stores in December and many vegetables were down more than 30%.
The FAO Food Price Index averaged 127.1 points in May, 4.8% higher than in April and 39.7% higher than in May 2020.
A surge in the international prices of vegetable oils, sugar and cereals led the increase in the index to its highest value since September 2011 and only 7.6% below its all-time peak in nominal terms.
The FAO Cereal Price Index increased 6% from April, led by international maize prices, which averaged 89.9% above their value a year earlier.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index gained 7.8% in May, mainly reflecting rising palm, soy and rapeseed oil quotations.
The FAO Sugar Price Index increased by 6.8% from April, due largely to harvest delays and concerns over reduced crop yields in Brazil, even as large export volumes from India contributed to easing the price surge.
The FAO Meat Price Index increased by 2.2% from April, with quotations for all meat types rising due to a faster pace of import purchases by China, as well as rising internal demand for poultry and pig meats in the leading producing regions.
The FAO Dairy Price Index rose by 1.8% in May, averaging 28% above its level of May 2020. The increase was led by solid import demand for skim and whole milk powders, while butter prices declined for the first time in almost a year on increased export supplies from New Zealand.
