Food bill beefs up

Rising chicken, lamb and beef prices helped push New Zealand’s food prices higher in July. Food prices rose 1.1 per cent from June and were 0.9 per cent higher than in July last year, Stats NZ said. Meat and poultry prices lifted 2.8 per cent on the month after lifting 0.2 per cent in June. Mutton, Lamb and hogget prices jumped 7.6 per cent while poultry prices were up 4.5 per cent. Meat and poultry prices were up 5.8 per cent from a year ago. Vegetable prices rose 3.7 per cent on the month but were down 17 per cent from a year ago.