Falling tomato prices pull down overall food prices

Food prices fell 0.6 percent in November 2021 compared with October 2021, mainly influenced by lower prices for tomatoes, Stats NZ said today.

Tomato prices fell 49 percent in November. However, their price was 54 percent higher than a year ago.

"The weighted average price of 1kg of tomatoes fell from $12.04 in October 2021 to $6.16 in November 2021," consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery said. "This compares with $3.99 in November 2020."

Monthly fruit and vegetable prices fell 6.7 percent in November. As well as lower tomato prices, there were lower prices for broccoli, strawberries, and potatoes. These falls were partly offset by higher prices for apples, kiwifruit, and carrots.

Cheaper prices for fruit and vegetables were partly offset by higher prices for grocery food (up 0.7 percent) and non-alcoholic beverages (up 1.6 percent).

On a seasonally adjusted basis, overall food prices rose by 0.3 percent in November.

"The 0.3 percent rise in prices after adjusting for seasonal effects shows that food prices fell by less than they usually do in November," Mrs Dewbery said.

At a more detailed level, fruit and vegetables and grocery food are the only two categories that are seasonally adjusted as they have identifiable seasonal patterns.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, fruit and vegetable prices fell 2.3 percent, and grocery food prices rose 0.3 percent.

Annual food prices up 4.0 percent

Annually, food prices increased 4.0 percent in November 2021, mainly due to higher prices for grocery food (up 4.2 percent) and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 4.6 percent).

"November's annual movement is similar to the annual movements for the last few months. However, these price increases are higher than they were earlier in the year," Mrs Dewbery said.