Food prices fell half a percent in April, thanks partly to discounting on beef, chicken and lamb chops, Statistics New Zealand said today."Although food prices are now 0.4 percent higher than a year ago, they are 8.1 percent higher than two years ago
Food prices fell half a percent in April, thanks partly to discounting on beef, chicken and lamb chops, Statistics New Zealand said today.
"Although food prices are now 0.4 percent higher than a year ago, they are 8.1 percent higher than two years ago," Statistics NZ's prices manager Chris Pike said.
In April the meat, poultry, and fish subgroup decreased 2.6 percent -- largely due to lower prices for beef, down 4.5 percent, fresh chicken, down 4.7 percent, and lamb chops, down 9 percent.
All of these falls were influenced by discounting.
Fruit and vegetable prices decreased 1.7 percent, with kiwifruit prices falling 36.4 percent. Kiwifruit prices usually fall in April as the new season's crop becomes available.
Other significant downward contributions came from lower prices for broccoli, down 15.1 percent, and potatoes, down 4.8 percent.
Lower prices for meat, poultry and fish, and for fruit and vegetables were partly offset by higher prices for grocery food, which were up 0.7 percent.
For the year to April, food prices rose 0.4 percent. Groceries were up 2.3 percent, restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food were up 1.9 percent and non-alcoholic beverages were up 2.7 percent.
Prices fell for the fruit and vegetables subgroup were down 5 percent and the meat, poultry, and fish were down 2.2 percent in the year to April 2010.
