According to the food price index (FPI), retail cheese prices rose by 42.3 percent in the year to July 2008. The graph shows that retail cheese prices began their sharp rise in August 2007, reflecting big increases in international dairy product prices.
Cheese prices are collected monthly for the FPI in about 75 supermarkets located in 15 urban areas across the country. Prices are tracked for four different types of cheese:
- mild cheddar
- cottage
- gourmet (mainly camembert)
- processed slices.
The price of a family block of cheddar cheese has risen at a considerably greater rate than the price of a round of camembert. The 1kg block of mild cheddar cheese tracked for the FPI rose by 59.3 percent in the year to July 2008, while the 125g round of camembert had a flatter rise of 10.6 percent. Increases for cottage cheese (21.5 percent) and processed cheese slices (24.7 percent) were between those recorded for cheddar and camembert.
Andrew Smith, general manager of marketing at Fonterra Brands, said that the main production input costs vary for different types of cheese. He said the prices of block cheese – such as cheddars and processed cheese – are linked to international commodity prices. The significant price increase for mild cheddar over the past year is a result of the unprecedented rise in global dairy commodities. In contrast, gourmet or specialty cheeses, such as camembert, are linked to the price of domestic 'white milk', which has also increased but at a more modest rate than has occurred on the commodities market.
Fresh milk prices in the FPI increased by 10.2 percent in the year to July 2008, broadly in line with the 10.6 percent increase for camembert.
Back to Price Index News: September 2008