For October
Provided by: Statistics New Zealand
Official Release: PDF

FPI y/y: 9.9%, pr. 10.8% (Aug), 7.6% (Jul), 6.8% (Jun)

Food prices decreased 0.3% in October pushed lower by a 6% decline in prices for fruits and vegetables. The price of meat, poultry, and fish rose 2.4%. Prices for grocery food were up 0.6%. On the year, the pace of price increases decelerated from August, coming in at 9.9% compared to 10.8%.  

For Sept
Provided by: Statistics New Zealand
Official Release: Media Release

FPI y/y: 10.8%, pr. 7.6% (Jul), 6.8% (Jun)

For August
Provided by: Statistics New Zealand
Previous Release: Media Release

FPI y/y: pr. 7.6% (Jul), 6.8% (Jun)

For July
Provided by: Statistics New Zealand
Official Release: Media Release

FPI y/y: 7.6%, pr. 6.8%

The food price index rose 0.6% in July from June, mainly due to higher prices for fruit and vegetables, Statistics New Zealand says. That rate is slower than the 1.3% measured in July. The annual pace rose to 7.6%, with all 5 categories recording upward price pressure. The grocery sub group is up 11% compared to a year ago. With consumer having to pay more for groceries, they will have less discretionary spending. The economy has already slumped with the central bank cutting rates on July 23rd to 8.00% from 8.25%.  

From the Release: "Food prices increased 0.6 percent in the July 2008 month, Statistics New Zealand said today. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for the fruit and vegetables subgroup (up 3.6 percent), in particular lettuce (up 32.4 percent) and cucumber (up 27.9 percent). The most significant downward contributions to fruit and vegetables came from lower prices for tomatoes (down 14.6 percent) and nectarines (down 32.3 percent).Other subgroups to increase were grocery food (up 0.5 percent), restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 0.6 percent), and non-alcoholic beverages (up 0.4 percent).

For the year to July 2008, food prices rose 7.6 percent. All five subgroups recorded upward contributions to the annual increase, with the most significant being the grocery food subgroup (up 11.2 percent). Within this subgroup, the main contributions came from higher prices for bread (up 19.6 percent), cheddar cheese (up 59.3 percent), butter (up 89.4 percent), and fresh milk (up 10.2 percent)."

For June
Provided by: Statistics New Zealand

FPI y/y: pr. 6.8%

For May
Provided by: Statistics New Zealand

FPI y/y: 6.8%

Food prices rose another 1% in May, driving the Food Price Index (FPI) up 6.8% in the year to May. Thats the largest rise since October 2001, when prices were up 7.7%. Fruits and vegetables led the gains, up 3.8%, non-alcoholic beverages were next (2.6%) and grocery foods (up 0.5%). On the year, grocery prices are up 11.8%, with milk (21.5%) cheddar cheese (59.4%), bread (13.9%) and butter (80.1%) leading the charge.

The Food Price Index makes up about 1/5th or 20% of the Consumer Price Index, which is expected to climb to as high as 4.7% this year. Higher inflation during a time when manufacturing and other sectors are cooling in the New Zealand economy will pose a headache for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.