Food prices rise 1.9 percent in January month

Food prices rise 1.9 percent in January month – Media release

Food prices rose 1.9 percent in the January month, and were up 0.8 percent on a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand said today. While this is the largest increase in a single month since July 2011, food prices often rise in January months.

“In January, higher food prices reflected more expensive grocery food, after falls in recent months. We also had seasonally higher fruit and vegetable prices,” prices manager Chris Pike said.

The rise for grocery food (up 1.9 percent) was led by cakes and biscuits (up 5.4 percent), yoghurt (up 9.0 percent), and bread (up 2.3 percent). Olive oil (down 17 percent) was discounted in January and was at its lowest price level since December 2002.

The monthly rise for fruit and vegetables (up 3.5 percent) was led by seasonally higher prices for mandarins (up 23 percent), apples (up 7.7 percent), lettuce (up 20 percent), and broccoli (up 38 percent). Apple prices were at their highest level since December 2008. Falls for nectarines (down 23 percent) and pumpkin (down 13 percent) partly countered these rises.

Price rises for meat, poultry, and fish (up 2.2 percent) and non-alcoholic beverages (up 2.2 percent) were influenced by less discounting for lamb (up 25 percent) and soft drinks (up 3.6 percent).

Annual changes in price

For the year to January 2013, the food price index (FPI) increased 0.8 percent.

Fruit and vegetables (up 5.9 percent) made the main upward contribution for the year, led by kumara (up 98 percent), apples (up 21 percent), and avocados (up 86 percent). High kumara prices were influenced by poor weather conditions in both the planting and harvesting seasons, which affected the crop in 2012.

There was a smaller crop for avocados in 2012, after a bumper season in 2011. Meat, poultry, and fish prices increased 1.9 percent, largely due to chicken, which increased 9.6 percent from a low point in January 2012.

Grocery food (down 1.5 percent) was the only subgroup that decreased in the year to January 2013. Decreases in the prices of fresh milk (down 9.4 percent), cheese (down 6.0 percent), butter (down 18 percent), and bread (down 2.4 percent) were the key influences. Fresh milk prices were 9.6 percent lower than in February 2011, when they peaked.

The FPI measures the rate of price change of food and food services purchased by households. Statistics NZ visits shops across New Zealand to collect prices for the FPI and check package sizes.

ENDS

For more information about these statistics:
• Visit Food Price Index: January 2013
•
• Open the attached files
http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1302/FoodPriceIndexJan13.pdf

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1302/fpijan13tables.xls

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