• Stats NZ records 5.0% annual food price inflation (FPI) in August 2025 
• Foodstuffs see retail prices rise 5.1% YOY for their comparable FPI basket of products 
• Winter hits cabbage and broccoli hard but kiwifruit and kumara good value 
• Olive oil continues decline by 22% YOY while butter, steak, lamb still up ≥ 30% YOY  

 
The Foodstuffs grocery co-ops say winter’s harsh weather had a flow-on effect for customers in August, with some vegetable prices well up on last year, as others saw double-digit price falls.  
 
Stats NZ has reported an annual food price inflation (FPI) rate of 5.0% in August 2025, while the co-ops recorded an average year-on-year retail price increase of 5.1% for their comparable FPI basket of products. 
 
Just seven products accounted for almost half of Foodstuffs’ rate – butter, cheese, beef steak, lamb leg roasts and shoulder chops, and boxed and drinking chocolate – with the cost of dairy, red meat and cocoa all still elevated on global markets due to high demand but lower supply. 
 
Foodstuffs NZ Managing Director Chris Quin says there was added upward pressure domestically due to the effects of the colder, wetter June and July months compared to 2024’s milder winter, with green cabbages and broccoli up +78% and +76%, respectively. 
 
“This winter has certainly knocked the leafy greens and brassicas around, with green cabbages the priciest they’ve been in years, even rivalling cauliflower at up to $8. Our produce specialists say they’re all now growing more quickly as the soil warms up and light levels increase. 
 
“August was a good month for orange kumara and green kiwifruit prices, down -15% and -12% respectively, while canned tuna fell -10%. It was also the third consecutive month of cheaper olive oil, down -22% on last year now that supply out of Europe has rebounded. 
 
“It’s the kind of correction we’d hope to see with dairy and meat as farmers worldwide respond to the current shortfall, bearing in mind it takes about two years to rebuild cattle stocks. 
 
“We’ve now seen the Global Dairy Trade butter price fall -13% since its peak in May. If that holds true, we’d expect to see cost falls from suppliers in due course, so retail prices can follow suit – bearing in mind our Foodstuffs co-ops were still making a loss on Pams butter in August, as part of our commitment to making butter as affordable and accessible as possible.” 
 
Quin says the co-ops’ August FPI rate was further influenced by the timing of PAK’nSAVE’s annual birthday savings promotional period. 
 
“Stickman’s Birthday is a bit of a moveable feast. Last year it was in August, this year in July. That shift will have contributed to the higher rate comparing last August with this August. 
 
“That said, the UK has recorded a similar rise in FPI as New Zealand over the last six months, from around 2-3% at the start of the year, to around 4-5% now, and indeed most OECD countries are seeing food prices rise more quickly than they were at the start of this year. 
 
“For our Foodstuffs co-ops, that upward global trend is a reminder of the need to keep a close eye on inflation, as we have been for the last three years, by continuing to run our stores and supply chains as efficiently as possible and buying well from suppliers here and overseas.” 
 
Foodstuffs’ supplier costs for goods in its FPI basket rose 5.5% in August, year on year, the highest since January 2024. Supplier costs and GST account for around 80 cents per dollar of the shelf price of goods, while about four cents is net profit after taxes and business costs.