Food-Friendly Wines — Bob's Blog
What are best food-friendly wines? Bob Campbell, MW offers his picks.
Food prices fell 0.2% in the December month, and were down 1% on a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand says.
In December alone the price of lamb was down 14%, with the lowest prices since February 2009. This was despite a rise of 9% for meat, poultry, and fish category for December, mainly influenced by higher prices for chicken pieces (up 10%), due to less discounting.
In the December month, fruit and vegetables rose 0.7%. Seasonal rises in apple (up 14%), potato (up 13%) and kiwifruit prices (up 28%) provided the main upward contributions. The main downward contributions came from seasonal falls in tomato (down 30%) and broccoli prices (down 31%). Tomato prices often fall in the spring and early summer months. They have fallen 30% or more in each of the past three months and are now 75% lower than their off-season peak in August 2012.
Annual movements
Shifting the focus to annual from monthly price changes, the food price index (FPI) decreased 1% in the year to December 2012. Grocery food (down 3.6%) made the main downward contribution. Significant individual contributions came from fresh milk (down 9.4%), cheese (down 8.2%), and bread (down 4.2%).
The price of lamb decreased 24%, which is the largest annual fall since the series began in January 1989. Takeaway pizza prices also decreased (down 12%).
For the year to December 2012, fruit and vegetables (up 6%) made the main upward contribution. Kumara (up 109%), avocado (up 107%), apple (up 20%) and pumpkin (up 32%) prices all increased.
High kumara prices were influenced by poor weather conditions in both the planting and harvesting seasons, which affected the crop in 2012. Avocados enjoyed a bumper season in 2011, with a large quantity available on the market. Avocado harvests follow a two-year pattern, with a smaller crop every other year.
The FPI measures the rate of price change of food and food services purchased by households. Statistics NZ visits shops across New Zealand to collect prices for the FPI and check package sizes.
Global trade wars and uncertain tariff regimes could play into the hands of many New Zealand exporters, according to Gareth Coleman ANZ’s Head of Trade & Supply Chain.
The long running trade dispute between NZ and Canada appears to be over.
Herd improvement company LIC has ended the 2024-25 financial year in a strong position - debt-free and almost quadrupling its net profit.
There's been widespread support from the primary sector for the Government's move to put the brakes on local authorities to do any more work on planning changes ahead of major changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA).
Rural health advocates say the Government's decision to establish a new medical school at the University of Waikato augurs well for the rural sector.
People affected by the recent two severe flood events in the Tasman district are weary and exhausted trying to deal with the devastation on their farms and orchards, according to the head of the Rural Support Trust (RST) in the region.
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