Rising food prices could make it harder for low-income shoppers to get enough healthy food, experts say.
Food prices this week are 8.3% higher in August 2022 than in August last year, according to Stats NZ. This was his biggest annual increase since July 2009, when food prices rose his 8.4%.
Dairy and consumer food analyst at Rabobank. Michael Harvey argues that if food inflation stays high for too long and continues to impact household discretionary income, low-income consumers will be less likely to maintain a healthy diet or buy enough food. He said that it would be difficult to
Many consumers have responded to grocery inflation by “trading in” and buying cheaper options, he said.
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Some started buying food in bulk. Others have eaten out less, he said. Some buy more canned food.
But trade-downs varied by income level, he said.
Harvey said these are the different stages that consumers, especially low-income consumers, go through before coming to a place to skip meals.
A 2014 Oakland City Mission report found that the only cost low-income families could cut was their weekly grocery store. These families would only buy food after their rent, debts and utilities were paid.
Carol Wham, professor of public health and nutrition at Massey University, said there are anecdotes of rising food prices that jeopardize the food choices consumers make.
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Consumers are preempting rising food prices by buying cheaper, less nutritious foods.
Until the proposed next National Nutrition Survey is completed, there will be no solid evidence to substantiate this.
Milk is a good example of a food that was excluded because of price. Higher costs meant that per capita milk consumption was lower among those who needed it most, Wham said.
Cheap, ultra-processed foods like instant noodles have replaced nutritious whole foods. This is the main cause of obesity, he says, Wham.
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Michael Harvey, a dairy and consumer food analyst at Rabobank, says many food companies are not turning a profit despite rising food costs.
Consumer resistance to food prices is part of the market rebalancing, Harvey said. However, there were many factors that affected grocery prices that shoppers were unable to influence.
The main driver is agricultural products such as milk and vegetables, which have higher production costs due to rising diesel and fertilizer costs, he said.
Political events must also stabilize, he said.
High costs were incurred throughout the food value chain. Even the cost of packaging and processing the food was high, he said.
Food companies have passed on higher costs to consumers over the past 6-12 months. But corporate profit margins have also been squeezed, he said.
Harvey said some retailers reported that they passed the costs on to consumers but didn’t make more money.
