Avocado prices are through the roof, bucking the trend of lower food prices across the board.
Just-released Statistics NZ figures for May show food prices fell 0.5 percent when compared to April, with fruit and veges together down 3.7 percent.
Annually, veges are down only 1.7 percent, and food overall, down 0.3 percent.
"Tomatoes and potatoes influenced the drop in vege prices," says consumer prices manager Matt Haigh. "The average price for a kilo of tomatoes fell to $6.00 in May, compared with $6.70 in April."
Kumara also helped keep grocery bills in check, down from $5.01 a kilogram to $3.46. So did meat, fish and poultry, down 3.5 percent.
But fruit is up 17 percent on a year ago, with avocados and bananas to blame. The average 200g avocado now costs $4.48 -- a year ago it was $1.64.
The fruit hikes closely match what supermarket Countdown reported yesterday in its 'Basket of 100' report.
"Across the board, avocados continue to deliver hyperinflation as stock availability dwindles," said general manager of merchandise Chris Fisher.
Countdown also reported food prices to be falling overall.
Prices have been static or declining overall since mid-2015, after years of consistent rises, according to Statistics NZ data.
Newshub.
