Likewise, costs for key staples, together with eggs, cereals, meat and dairy additionally declined in Could, which FMI – The Meals Business Affiliation characterised as “heartening.”
In keeping with the Shopper Value Index up to date June 13, the worth for meals consumed at house in Could inched up 0.1% from April after dropping 0.2% in April from March and 0.3% in March from February. The decline adopted a month-over-month slowdown that started in late 2022.
In November, the worth of meals consumed at house elevated 0.6%, adopted by a 0.5% enhance in December, a 0.4% enhance in January and a 0.3% enhance in February over the earlier month.
Inflation for meals consumed at house for the complete yr ending Could 2023 was up 5.8%, which whereas nothing to sneeze at is a far cry from the 11.2% year-over-year enhance reported final September.
‘Grocery costs proceed to stage off’
Whereas costs nonetheless stay far greater than pre-pandemic, when a mixture of provide chain struggles and labor challenges drove up prices greater than most corporations might soak up, FMI’s vice chairman of tax, commerce, sustainability and coverage improvement Andy Harig mentioned he was inspired by the general development.
“The Could CPI report reveals grocery costs proceed to stage off, with meals value inflation comparatively flat since February and considerably decrease than the July 2022 peak. Significantly heartening is the variety of objects within the grocery retailer aisles with declining costs,” he mentioned.
Amongst these fell are the index for meats, poultry, fish and eggs, which dropped 1.2% in Could, lead primarily by a 13.8% decline within the value of eggs, in accordance the Labor Division.
The dairy and associated merchandise index additionally fell 1.1% within the month and the cereals and bakery merchandise index was unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Whereas the month-over-month value drop for eggs was by far essentially the most noticeable, different classes additionally noticed notable drops, together with processed fish and seafood, which fell 2%, pork roasts, steaks and ribs, which fell 2.5% and peanut butter which dropped 0.9%.
Some costs proceed to climb as challenges linger
Classes with notable will increase, embody frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks, which is up 7.4%, frozen vegetables and fruit, that are up 1.4% and litany of different merchandise and elevated 1% or much less, in accordance with the Labor Division.
Given these fluctuations, many customers stay involved about costs on the grocery, acknowledged Harig. And, he added, many “grocers nonetheless face headwinds when it comes to labor shortages and transportation challenges, and we anticipate that costs will seemingly stay above pre-pandemic ranges for a lot of the yr.”
Nonetheless, he mentioned, inflation is “on course,” and FMI stays “optimistic that meals inflation will proceed to reasonable all through 2023.”
