Pumpkin prices hit record

Pumpkin prices are the highest they’ve ever been, spiking to an average of nearly $6 a kilo.

Statistics New Zealand’s food price index showed the price had increased 176 per cent in the year to November.

The price of $5.78 a kilo was the most pumpkin had cost since Stats NZ’s food price series began in 1993.

An online check yesterday showed it was even higher at $6.99 a kilo in Countdown and in October, the Herald found pumpkin for sale in supermarkets for between $4.50 and $6.99 a kilo.

Kumara was another vegetable to reach astronomical prices at $8.99 a kilo in November — an 83 per cent rise on this time last year when the root vegetable cost just $4.92 a kilo.

Fruit and vegetable prices increased by 1.2 per cent overall year on year after seasonal adjustment, Stats NZ data showed.

A wet start to the growing season followed by a dry spell late in the year, had combined to create super high prices, Horticulture NZ manager John Seymour said.

“It’s the same problem every time — supply and demand.”

Seymour said he appreciated people often wanted to eat pumpkin at Christmas, but said people should buy in season and go for cheaper alternatives.

Several fresh produce items have seen huge price spikes this year, including lettuce, which reached $7 a head at some retailers this year. And it’s not just fresh food. The average price of the cheapest available 500g block of butter was $5.74 in November, up from $5.67 in October and $3.88 in November last year.