Food prices fell 1.0 percent in the March 2012 month, following a 0.6 percent rise in February, Statistics New Zealand said today. "Prices fell in March for all five broad food categories. This last happened in October 2009," Statistics NZ prices manager Chris Pike said. The most significant decrease came from the fruit and vegetables subgroup (down 4.2 percent). The fall in fruit and vegetable prices reflected seasonal price falls for apples (down 24 percent). Lower prices were also recorded for grapes (down 20 percent), pumpkin (down 26 percent), potatoes (down 5.8 percent), and cauliflower (down 33 percent). ... (full story)