Buying seasonally is financially savvy

Buying seasonally is financially savvy

16 April 2015

It makes financial as well as environmental sense to buy seasonal produce, according to new analysis from Statistics New Zealand.

Price information from 2012 to 2014 showed that while bananas cost about the same all year round, you’ll be paying around half the price for strawberries in January than in July – $3.75 compared with $7.36 for a 250g punnet.

Courgettes are cheapest in February when they’re likely to set you back under $5 a kilo, but buy them in September and you may pay $12 a kilo more. Capsicums are also almost twice the price in August compared with their lowest price in December or March.

Prices manager Chris Pike says it shows the value of knowing when to buy. “Although you can get them all year round, the capsicums and courgettes you’re buying from late spring through to autumn are more likely to be grown locally, and that means they’ll cost less.

“Back when all fruit and veges were locally grown outdoors, people probably had a better idea of the growing and picking seasons. Now many of us are accustomed to being able to buy whatever we like all year around – even if we have to pay for the privilege.”

Fresh tomatoes are cheaper between December and March when the price goes well under $4 a kilo. However, tinned tomatoes are worth a look between June and October, when fresh ones cost two or three times as much as in summer. This period is when you see a limited supply of fresh tomatoes, but the average price for a 400g can of tomatoes is around $1.30.

And where do Kiwis spend their fruit and vegetable dollars? Bananas ($7.20) and apples ($5.30) are the top-two fruit-bowl staples bought by households each month. In the vege compartments, our top two are potatoes ($6.00) and tomatoes ($5.90).

Fruit and vegetable average retail prices: 2012–14 presents fruit and vegetable prices using data from 2012 to 2014. It provides monthly average retail prices per kilo.

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