Food prices have notched up their largest annual increase in 32 years - up 11.3 percent on December 2021.
Figures from Stats NZ show fruit and vegetable rose by 23 percent.
There was also a surge in the cost of grocery items - with cheese, eggs and potato chips leading the charge in this section.
“Increasing prices for cheddar cheese, barn or cage-raised eggs, and potato chips were the largest drivers within grocery food,” consumer prices manager James Mitchell said.
The second-largest contributor to the annual movement was fruit and vegetables, mostly influenced by kiwifruit, potatoes, and tomatoes.
This is the biggest annual increase since April 1990, when food prices increased by 11.4 percent.
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