Food prices drop, led by soft drinks and groceries
Food prices continue to fall as consumers pay less for soft drinks and supermarket shopping.
BUSINESSDESK: New Zealand food prices continued to fall in April as consumers paid less for soft drinks and supermarket shopping.
The food price index fell 0.1% last month, says Statistics New Zealand, and showed no overall change to a year earlier.
The decline was led by a 2.6% drop in non-alcoholic beverages from a month earlier and a 0.7% fall in grocery prices, with cheaper prices for potato crisps, crackers, yoghurt, sweets and soup.
The cost of restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food slipped just 0.1%.
The index showed a 7.3% decrease in the price of packaged coffee, a 8.1% fall in takeaway pizza, while minced beef fell 7.2%.
Higher prices were recorded in two of the main sub-groups, with a 2.8% increase in the price of fruit and vegetables and a 0.7% rise in meat, poultry and fish.
Unseasonal vegetables stood out as price gainers, with lettuce up 40%, followed by tomatoes, up 26%.
Hannah Lynch
Fri, 11 May 2012
Fri, 11 May 2012
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Food prices drop, led by soft drinks and groceries
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