Wages and the price of fish

If you’re planning a spread of fish and chips tonight, be warned: It could be a pricier prospect.

Data from Statistics New Zealand shows higher prices for takeaway foods and restaurant meals pushed the food price index up 0.2 per cent in the year ended in June 2018.

‘‘April’s 75-cent increase in the minimum wage, to $16.50 an hour, may have contributed to price increases for these items,’’ Statistics NZ consumer prices manager Matthew Haigh said.

‘‘Of every $100 that Kiwi households spend on food, about $26 goes on takeaways and eating out.’’

While overall food prices increased slightly over the year, meat and poultry prices decreased 1.6 per cent, influenced by cheaper prices for chicken (down 8.5 per cent). Chicken breast prices fell 14 per cent to $12.28 a kilogram.

Fish and chips are New Zealand’s most commonly bought takeaway food.

About 1.7 million New Zealanders drop into their local fish-and-chippery each month, up more than 10 per cent in recent years.

Anthony Cho, the co-owner of So Fine Seafoods in Lower Hutt, which was last year named the best chip shop in the country, said he was not surprised to hear prices were rising.

He said the serving and packaging sizes of a range of things was steadily declining, while prices stayed the same or rose.

Businesses were having to pay more for less from their suppliers, as well as facing higher wage bills.

The cost of getting fish to the door was increasing, too, he said.

‘‘Freight used to be $6 and now it’s up to $7.50. The cost of a full tank of diesel for the boat has increased.’’

Cho would not have to raise his prices yet because he was still above his break-even point, he said, and he was aware that customers would object.

A survey of fish-and-chip shops around the country found wide variation in what they charged – from $2.80 for fish and $2.80 for a serving of chips at Witham Fish Supply in Christchurch through to $6.20 for fish and $4.50 for chips at The Ancient Mariner in Auckland’s Mt Eden.

Fish-and-chip shops often advertised hoki, which this week was $9.99 a kilo at Countdown. You might get 10 fillets from a kilogram – so you’re paying at least three times the raw price for your fish from the takeaway shop.

When it’s not declared, generic ‘‘fish’’ is often cheaper options such as elephant fish, red cod or species of shark.