15 Apr 2020

Covid-19 lockdown: Vegetable prices rise 7.4 percent - Stats NZ

4:23 pm on 15 April 2020

Cauliflower and cucumber prices rose more than 60 percent in March, with other vegetables also getting dearer, new statistics show.

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Photo: natavkusidey/123RF

Stats NZ's food price index found that while overall food prices rose less than 1 percent, vegetable prices were 7.4 percent higher in March.

Cauliflower prices rose 64 percent in March to an average of $5.75/kg.

The other most-affected vegetables included cucumber (up 60 percent), broccoli (37 percent), capsicums (13 percent) and carrots (11 percent).

Statistics New Zealand said some shoppers may have seen higher prices towards the end of the month, with reports of $10 or more for a single cauliflower.

At the end of last month, supermarkets said they had been doing their best to keep prices low, but cauliflowers were out of season in a March that also followed a drought across much of New Zealand.

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