Compared with July 2021, overall grocery food prices increased 7.5 per cent and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food prices increased by 6.6 per cent.
The Stats NZ data arrived at a time of high inflation and major debate about the cost of living.
ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner says inflation needs to drop soon if we want to avoid more Reserve Bank interest rate rises. Photo / File
Meat, poultry, and fish prices increased 7.7 per cent. Non-alcoholic beverage prices increased by 4.6 per cent.
"Increasing prices for cheddar cheese, standard two-litre milk, and yoghurt were the largest contributors within grocery food," Stats NZ consumer prices manager Fiona Smillie said.
The stats are prone to seasonality - with some individual items liable to volatile pricing depending on agricultural nuances, freak weather events or supply chain issues.
Tomato prices have been the bane of many shoppers lately, with prices for tomatoes frequently above $13/kg today.
And last month, wild weather in Queensland was expected to wreak havoc with asparagus and leek prices after some crops were obliterated.
The biggest culprits in food price inflation for the year were fruit and vegetables.
"Vegetables had the largest impact on this increase, influenced by higher prices for tomatoes, lettuce, and broccoli," Smillie said.
Stats NZ said after adjusting for seasonal effects, fruit and vegetables were up 3.1 per cent.
National Party deputy leader Nicola Willis says worker shortages must be addressed and undisciplined Government spending reined in. Photo / Marty Melville
The agency added: "This indicates that whilst seasonal impacts drove most of the movement, after removing these impacts fruit and vegetables still increased by 3.1 per cent."
The second-largest contributor to the monthly movement was grocery food, which rose 1.0 per cent overall.
Cheddar cheese prices increased 4.5 per cent, and were the biggest drivers of inflation on this category.
Cage of barn-raised eggs also soared, up 4.2 per cent in the year ending July 31.
A recipe for inflation?
Experts today will likely be dissecting prices of staples such as popular meat, dairy, and grain products.
ANZ Bank chief economist Sharon Zollner said today's food price index only told some of the story about the real cost of living.
Food prices were notoriously volatile in the short term or on a seasonal basis. Tomatoes, for example, were always pricey in winter, she said.
And wage growth, house prices and interest rates were also crucial indicators of whether people were better off in real terms today than a year ago.
Consumers price index inflation rose 7.3 per cent in the year to the end of June - but wage inflation was about 7 per cent too.
"Food prices are outpacing wages but not by a lot," Zollner added.
And she said with house prices falling, and other indicators inflation had already peaked, there was some room for optimism.
But people still waiting for wage increases and those on lower incomes were especially exposed to inflation and food price increases, she said.
New Zealand's economy, like that of the United States, was juggling strange trends lately - low unemployment, high inflation, falling house prices and stagnant population growth.
Zollner said the Reserve Bank would keep watching the major indices to assess if more rate hikes were needed.
"Basically, we need inflation to come down quickly, otherwise interest rates are going to have to go up more."
In June compared with May, prices for meat, poultry, and fish rose 0.9 per cent. Non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 1.4 per cent in just one month.
The National Party said families were having to fight runaway food prices.
"Rising prices in every part of the economy are crashing over household budgets, dragging Kiwis backwards," National's finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis said.
"Yet after more than a year of runaway inflation, Labour still has no plan to tackle rising prices to get the cost of living crisis under control."
Willis added: "We know widespread labour shortages are worsening food inflation in particular."
She said producers, manufacturers, and the hospitality sector were hurting from "Labour's failed immigration strategy" which blocked access to talent and drove up costs.
Willis, who is also National's deputy leader said the Reserve Bank should focus on price stability and the Government must stop adding unnecessary costs to businesses.
She said labour shortages must be addressed and undisciplined Government spending reined in.
Green Party commerce spokesman Ricardo Menéndez March, said an inequality crisis was underway and people needed support now to access nutritious food.
He said the Government should make the cost of living payment available to people on benefits as part of a plan to boost benefits to liveable levels.
Meanwhile, one of the two major supermarket chains said it was rolling back prices to what they were in early 2021.
Foodstuffs said butter at 2021 pricing was the most popular item at the Pak'nSave, New World and Four Square stores.
The company claimed its customers had saved $13.8 million on the "rollback" products nationally.
"In May, the co-operatives rolled back prices to what they were in early 2021, immediately reducing prices by an average of 10 per cent on more than 110 everyday items, as record inflation continued to push up food costs," Foodstuffs said.
"In the four months since the rolled back prices began, the cost of groceries supplied to Foodstuffs from its suppliers has increased by an average of 7.9 per cent."
"We estimated this initiative would save customers about $500,000 each week, so it's been fantastic to see the actual savings come in at over double that," Foodstuffs NZ managing director Chris Quin said today.
