Veggies lead September food prices down 

Source: ONE News

Food prices dropped by 0.7% in September, with vegetable prices down sharply.

Statistics New Zealand's food price index for September, published on Thursday, showed the price of vegetables was 12.8% lower than in August.

The vegetable prices decline was the largest recorded in the past decade, and likely to have been influenced by unusually warm weather in August, Statistics New Zealand said.

Vegetable prices also fell in August , down 3.2%, after double-digit price increases in July for more than half the green vegetables monitored for the index, influenced by unusually cold weather in May, Statistics New Zealand said.

In September lettuce prices were down 40.7%, cucumber down 25.5%, and capsicum down 23.5%.

The fruit and vegetable subgroup fell 8.4% as a whole in September, while grocery food prices recorded their second consecutive fall with a 0.1% fall.

The meat, poultry, and fish subgroup rose 1.8% in September - with fresh chicken up 6.9% and minced beef up 6.8% - following price falls in July and August.

For the year to September 2009, the food price index rose 3.3%, the smallest annual rise since 3% in the year to June 2007, Statistics New Zealand said.

Grocery food prices rose 3.8% for the year, while the meat, poultry, and fish group was up 7.1%, non-alcoholic beverages were up 9.7%, and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food lifted 3.6%.

The fruit and vegetables subgroup fell 7.4% in the year to September 2009.