Monsanto Bellaverde broccoli

A rise in the cost of fruit and vegetables in New Zealand last month is being blamed on a wet, cold and windy September.

According figures from Statistics New Zealand quoted in the National Business Review (NBR) the cost of fruit and vegetables rose by 2.6 per cent during September, driven by a 49.5 per cent increase in the cost of broccoli and a 13.5 per cent rise in the price of lettuce.

'Vegetable prices were affected by unusually windy, wet, and cold September weather in different parts of the country,” Statistics New Zealand’s prices manager Chris Pike told the NBR.

The price of fruit and vegetables in the island nation has risen by 6.8 percent in the year to September, with food prices as a whole increasing by 1.3 per cent.