Despite a drop in food prices over December, industry commentators are hinting 2011 could be a bumper year for most New Zealand producers.
Food prices fell 0.8 percent in December, following a similar decline the month before.
Statistics NZ General Manager Chris Pike says seasonal falls in vegetable prices was the main contributor to the decline.
Overall though, in the year to December, prices have seen a rise of 4.2 percent – indicating an upward trend which looks set to continue.
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub, from the institute of economic research, says 2011 is looking good for producers.
"There were quite a few pressures from global markets, a lot of supply shocks and weather conditions have been quite difficult.
"The pressure on food prices is up right across the board all the way up to dairy and meat, there have been quite a few disruptive weather patterns that are feeding right through the food system."
This comes after the United Nations announced record commodity prices last week, in the face of increased global demand, mainly from Asia.
As Australia struggles to cope with record breaking floods, Producers here are looking at ways they may be able to help supply the Aussie market.
Floods have decimated large areas of wheat, sugar, cotton and rice production, as well as many fruit and vegetable crops.
Two of our largest exporters - Status Produce and Foodstuffs - are currently examining ways of satisfying future Australian demand for fresh, safe produce.
Status Produce Packhouse Manager Murray Adam says they're preparing for increased demand across the ditch.
"We do an export programme at this time of year anyway.
It hasn’t really made any difference, we have a programme put in place and they may have called for a bit of extra product but we haven’t got it yet."
General Manager of Foodstuffs Auckland, Rob Chemaly, says he expects prices to fluctuate in the near future as markets rebalance after the floods.
Australian consumers have been warned to expect immediate price rises across the board for many products, as the economy reels in the face of an estimated 400 million dollar blow.
