Domestic price of vegetables

This growth in vegetable prices follows on from a significant fall the previous year, when the prices of kumara (sweet potato), potatoes and onions plummeted. New Zealand also experienced an abundance in supply in 2024-25 due to favourable weather conditions, which pushed down vegetable prices, offsetting the impacts of high prices resulting from the lasting effects of Cyclone Gabrielle and Hale in 2023-24. In 2025-26 and forward, a new report by the NZ Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) and Horticulture NZ forecasts surging vegetable prices as vegetable production will be negatively impacted due to regulations attempting to reduce nitrogen run-off and manage freshwater more efficiently.

Domestic vegetable prices have surged over the past five years, resulting from extreme supply chain disruptions following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Farmers faced skyrocketing fuel and fertiliser costs as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict over 2021-22 and 2022-23. The competitive nature of vegetable growing led to these input cost increases being passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. Additionally, vegetable consumption has increased over the past five years. Rising health consciousness among consumers has supported vegetable consumption and prices over the period. Growing environmental concerns among consumers have also supported the consumption of relatively more expensive organic vegetable products. This trend has boosted local demand for vegetables and placed upward pressure on domestic vegetable prices. However, fuel and fertiliser prices have normalised over the past three years from their heavily inflated values, constraining further growth in vegetable prices.

The level of annual rainfall and the quality of growing conditions, including rainfall timings as well as any extreme weather events, directly impact production and, therefore, play a large role in influencing domestic vegetable prices. For instance, the drought in 2022 weakened vegetable production in the North Island, where almost three-quarters of vegetable farms are located. Cyclones and floods also impacted vegetable production, particularly in Auckland and the Bay of Plenty. As a result, the limited supply of vegetables has boosted vegetable prices over the past five years. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts that the domestic price of vegetables will increase at a compound annual rate of 4.3% over the five years through 2025-26.