Vegetable prices were up 21.4% in May from a year ago, while beef prices rose 16.5% and milk prices 9.3%, figures released by Statistics New Zealand show.
However vegetable prices in May were still down about 5% from January, figures show.
Stats NZ's May Food Price Index shows general food prices up 7.4% from May 2010, the biggest annual rise since an 8.4% rise in the year to July 2009. The rise includes 2.2 percentage points worth from the rise in GST on October 1 last year, and is up from a 6.1% annual rise in April.
Monthly figures show food prices rose 0.5% in May from April. This followed rises of 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.1% in the previous three months.
The fruit and vegetable subgroup had the largest impact on food prices in May, rising 1.6%, Stats NZ said.
This was influenced by seasonal price rises for lettuce (up 45.6%), tomatoes (up 16.9%), and cucumber (up 74.7%). These price rises were partly offset by seasonal price falls for kiwifruit (down 61.0%).
Meat, poultry, and fish prices rose 1.2% in May, with higher prices for fresh chicken (up 4.3%) and bacon (up 5.7%, partly reflecting a reduced level of discounting).
"Domestic retail meat prices have risen strongly over the past year, reflecting higher export prices for beef and lamb," Statistics NZ prices manager Chris Pike said.
Grocery food prices fell 0.2% in May 2011. This was influenced by a fall of 5.9% in cracker-type biscuit prices, Pike said.
(Updates with chart, monthly figures.)
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