Latest news with #Foodstuffs'
Scoop
18-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Foodstuffs Keep Inflation Below Average As Meat And Dairy Increase; Tomatoes Rise On Import Ban
Press Release – Foodstuffs Co-operative Affairs The Foodstuffs grocery co-ops say global prices for dairy and meat are continuing to drive food price inflation in New Zealand while prices for another Kiwi favourite tomatoes are up now too due to the current ban on tomato imports from Australia. Stats NZ records 4.4% annual food price inflation (FPI) in May 2025 Foodstuffs see retail prices rise 3.2% YOY for their comparable FPI basket of products Global prices continue to drive NZ price increases for butter, cheese, beef and lamb Tomato prices up 30% YOY as ongoing ban on Australian imports impacts overall supply The Foodstuffs grocery co-ops say global prices for dairy and meat are continuing to drive food price inflation in New Zealand while prices for another Kiwi favourite – tomatoes – are up now too due to the current ban on tomato imports from Australia. Stats NZ has today reported a food price inflation (FPI) rate of 4.4% in May 2025, year on year, while the Foodstuff co-ops recorded an average 3.2% for their comparable FPI basket of products. The co-ops have been monitoring inflation at their stores since 2022, based on a basket of goods in the same categories Stats NZ monitors. Key drivers of Foodstuffs' average 3.2% retail price increase in May were butter up 55%, cheese up 32%, beef steak up 25%, and lamb leg roasts up 23%. Foodstuffs NZ Managing Director Chris Quin says butter prices have surged worldwide since late-2023 due to constrained supply and rising demand. 'Fortunately, Foodstuffs' scale means we can keep offering competitive prices throughout the country. Right now we're selling butter at a loss because we're committed to keeping essentials like butter as affordable and accessible as possible for customers. 'Meat is where inflation is being felt more keenly, given most of us eat more of it per day than butter. Beef commodity prices are still near record levels, with high demand for New Zealand exports just as we've seen a decline in the national herd. To bolster supply we're even bringing in a bit more Australian beef but only until local supplies improve in spring.' Foodstuffs also saw a slight rise in the produce category, up 1.5% overall in May (YOY), influenced by increases of 30% for fresh tomatoes and 18% for both cucumbers and kiwifruit. 'Tomatoes are up due to seasonal supply and MPI's ban on Australian imports since brown rugose virus was detected there last year. That's to protect our domestic growers but it does mean supply will be lower until there's more sunlight and warmer temperatures here,' Quin says. 'So while Aussie tomatoes are off the shelves, a bit more Aussie beef is coming in – a reminder that New Zealand often relies on imports to supplement local supply and keep prices down or fill gaps entirely, and why it matters to have NZ-owned grocery retailers with the scale to compete for these products on global markets, if needed. 'That's how Foodstuffs have kept delivering value for customers for over a century, and why our scale will remain critical to keeping everyday items affordable.' Foodstuffs' retail prices were again outpaced by supplier costs, up an average 4.8% for products in the co-ops' FPI basket, year on year. Earlier, Infometrics reported a 2.0% rate for the Grocery Supplier Cost Index, across 60,000 goods the co-ops stock including non-foods.
Scoop
17-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Foodstuffs Keep Inflation Below Average As Meat And Dairy Increase; Tomatoes Rise On Import Ban
Stats NZ records 4.4% annual food price inflation (FPI) in May 2025 Foodstuffs see retail prices rise 3.2% YOY for their comparable FPI basket of products Global prices continue to drive NZ price increases for butter, cheese, beef and lamb Tomato prices up 30% YOY as ongoing ban on Australian imports impacts overall supply The Foodstuffs grocery co-ops say global prices for dairy and meat are continuing to drive food price inflation in New Zealand while prices for another Kiwi favourite – tomatoes – are up now too due to the current ban on tomato imports from Australia. Stats NZ has today reported a food price inflation (FPI) rate of 4.4% in May 2025, year on year, while the Foodstuff co-ops recorded an average 3.2% for their comparable FPI basket of products. The co-ops have been monitoring inflation at their stores since 2022, based on a basket of goods in the same categories Stats NZ monitors. Key drivers of Foodstuffs' average 3.2% retail price increase in May were butter up 55%, cheese up 32%, beef steak up 25%, and lamb leg roasts up 23%. Foodstuffs NZ Managing Director Chris Quin says butter prices have surged worldwide since late-2023 due to constrained supply and rising demand. 'Fortunately, Foodstuffs' scale means we can keep offering competitive prices throughout the country. Right now we're selling butter at a loss because we're committed to keeping essentials like butter as affordable and accessible as possible for customers. 'Meat is where inflation is being felt more keenly, given most of us eat more of it per day than butter. Beef commodity prices are still near record levels, with high demand for New Zealand exports just as we've seen a decline in the national herd. To bolster supply we're even bringing in a bit more Australian beef but only until local supplies improve in spring.' Foodstuffs also saw a slight rise in the produce category, up 1.5% overall in May (YOY), influenced by increases of 30% for fresh tomatoes and 18% for both cucumbers and kiwifruit. 'Tomatoes are up due to seasonal supply and MPI's ban on Australian imports since brown rugose virus was detected there last year. That's to protect our domestic growers but it does mean supply will be lower until there's more sunlight and warmer temperatures here,' Quin says. 'So while Aussie tomatoes are off the shelves, a bit more Aussie beef is coming in – a reminder that New Zealand often relies on imports to supplement local supply and keep prices down or fill gaps entirely, and why it matters to have NZ-owned grocery retailers with the scale to compete for these products on global markets, if needed. 'That's how Foodstuffs have kept delivering value for customers for over a century, and why our scale will remain critical to keeping everyday items affordable.' Foodstuffs' retail prices were again outpaced by supplier costs, up an average 4.8% for products in the co-ops' FPI basket, year on year. Earlier, Infometrics reported a 2.0% rate for the Grocery Supplier Cost Index, across 60,000 goods the co-ops stock including non-foods. Stats NZ measures FPI by tracking the prices of individual items that make up a representative 'basket'. Foodstuffs NZ measures the prices of a basket of products in the same categories Stats monitors, applying the same weighting and methodology to calculate a year-on-year rate.
Newsroom
10-06-2025
- Business
- Newsroom
Facial recognition tech not a green light for surveillance
Analysis: The Privacy Commissioner's much-anticipated report into Foodstuffs North Island's trial of facial recognition technology (deemed an 'inherently invasive' tool) offers plenty to chew over. Although the inquiry found the trial legal and generally compliant with the Privacy Act, important questions remain, and the report recommends that the technology stay under active review. People who may have been paranoid about facial recognition technology being used to monitor their every move in supermarkets – what's purchased and so forth – can rest easy. The commissioner found the technology was only used for the very narrow purpose of deterring serious incidents of violence and high-value retail theft by matching customers against a store's 'watchlist' (the image database of people of interest). It was not used for any other purpose, including minor retail crime prevention. The report cautioned against any future 'mission creep' in this regard. Furthermore, although everyone entering a store with such technology had their face scanned, images that did not trigger a match against the store's watchlist were deleted almost instantaneously. Meanwhile, watchlist data was deleted after two years in the case of perpetrators (and three months for their accomplices). The number of people put on watchlists peaked at 1800 during the trial and was down to 1504 at the end. Crucially, watchlist data was specific to each store, meaning there was no master list shared within the Foodstuffs' network. This meant anyone who had been added to one store's watchlist could still shop elsewhere, including at a store without facial recognition technology. Just as importantly, the criteria for being added to a watchlist were strict: either a conviction or a trespass notice was required. There was also de-linkage from other incident reporting systems, and watchlists were compiled manually. A two-camera/two-staff fail-safe system was adopted for positive matches, and the commissioner's report found no bias in how watchlists were compiled as well as used. Children and young people were excluded from watchlists. Meanwhile, Foodstuffs also maintained record keeping for judging the effectiveness of the facial recognition trial. A 16 percent decrease in serious incidents and an estimated 21 percent decrease in shoplifting in the participating stores was recorded. In addition, 115 serious incidents were avoided (including 65 people deterred from entering and 50 others through staff intervention). However, some scepticism was expressed because of qualitative limitations in the overall data set (especially data from non-participating stores which operated as the control group). The report documented at least two instances of misidentification, resulting in harm. Partly as a result, the accuracy rate required for positive matches was increased from 90 percent to 92.5 percent, although this still needed to be implemented. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner's Māori Reference Panel had opposed facial recognition technology in principle but gave advice enabling further safeguards to be adopted. Finally, the report cautions that its findings are 'not a green light for more general use of facial recognition technology'. This is a salutary reminder that decisions to employ it should not be taken lightly. Few small and medium-sized businesses will have the resources of Foodstuffs. The trial succeeded because of its investment in human time and effort. Technology, ultimately, is no substitute for this.
