Food Prices

Food prices rose 0.7 percent in September, with groceries up 1.2 percent and fruit and vegetables up 2.6 percent.

Shoppers may have been surprised to learn that overall food prices nationally have dropped in the year to the end of June, with fruit and vegetables nearly 10% cheaper than a year ago.

A consumer watchdog says there is little doubt New Zealand's supermarket duopoly - in which all major chains are owned by just two companies - is behind grocery prices rising faster in New Zealand than most major industrialised countries.