Cost from grocery suppliers to supermarkets increased by 10.6 percent in December 2022. The Infometrics-Foodstuffs New Zealand Grocery Supplier Cost Index recorded the usual lower volume cost over summer due to the moratorium, so the direction of cost pressures is not yet clear. However, the number of products with price increases was similar to that of December 2019.
“The moratorium means that the monthly pace of change in the index was lower, but it’s not clear yet if we’re on the cusp of seeing less intense cost pressures in 2023,” said Brad Olsen, Infometrics Principal Economist and incoming Chief Executive.
Produce contributed the majority of cost increases in December, accelerating to 24 percent due to several factors, including weather, that produced lower supply.
Butchery, seafood, and frozen foods supplier costs remain more than 10 percent higher, alongside a broad-based increase in chilled foods.
“Local cost pressures and supply challenges, including labour market pressure, interest rates, stubbornly high inflation, and weather, look set to maintain supplier cost pressure into 2023.”
“However, there is better news on the international front, with shipping costs easing back substantially, global food prices starting to ease, and fuel prices also being tempered.”
