Tomato prices halved in November from $12 to $6 a kilogram which helped pull down the overall food prices by 0.6 per cent compared with the previous month.
Although this was a dramatic drop they are still 54% more expensive than a year ago when they had an average price of $3.99 a kilogram, according to Stats NZ consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery.
Other fruit and vegetable prices that fell included broccoli, strawberries and potatoes. However, apples, kiwifruit and carrots rose in price.
Cheaper prices for fruit and vegetables were partly offset by higher prices for grocery food (up 0.7 per cent) and non-alcoholic beverages (up 1.6 per cent).
On a seasonally adjusted basis, overall food prices rose by 0.3 per cent in November.
“The 0.3 per cent rise in prices after adjusting for seasonal effects shows that food prices fell by less than they usually do in November,” Dewbery said.
Fruit and vegetables and grocery food are the only two categories that are seasonally adjusted as they have identifiable seasonal patterns.
Story originally published on stuff.co.nz.
