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We’re already seeing grocery prices on the rise in May

Early grocery index numbers are steepest for cereals and bakery products

Alarice Rajagopal, Contributing writer

May 15, 2023

2 Min Read
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TOP TAKEAWAYS

  • There is an overall increase of 0.78% in prices from April to early May

  • The steepest increase was observed in the cereals and bakery products segments at 1.05%

  • Prices of dairy and related products increased by 0.89% whereas the prices of fruits and vegetables increased by 0.69%

Many shoppers are likely happy to see inflation starting to slow down for several straight months in a row now, however, it is hard to ignore the unprecedented increase in prices over the last year in the overall food-at-home segment (including grocery store and supermarket food purchases), which rose by 13% over the previous 12 months.

While retailers and consumers alike are closely watching grocery inflation numbers, a new report from AI solutions company Impact Analytics, which aims to track price movements of key grocery items across the U.S. on a higher frequency than Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Pricing insights from the last few weeks show a marginal increase of 0.78% in prices from April through early May, according to the report. 

What the numbers are saying

The steepest increase (1.05%) was observed in cereals and bakery products. Dairy and related products saw an increase in price by 0.89%, while the prices of fruits and vegetables increased by 0.69%.

What’s more, the prices reported for discretionary plant-based, carbohydrate-rich and fat-rich products show a continued rise at a faster pace than other segments (0.55% month-over-month).
Carbohydrate-rich products have increased by 0.51% while prices for protein-rich products have increased by 0.30%. 

On the other hand, fat-rich products have grown at a comparatively slower pace of 0.23%, and growth in prices for non-healthy products (0.44% month-over-month) slightly outpaced that of healthy products (0.38% month-over-month). 

Prices for non-plant-based products increased at a slightly faster pace of 0.43% than plant-based products, which saw an increase of 0.32%.

As noted previously and based on months of trending data, the report indicates that all segments observed a marginal increase in prices from April through early May. 

The prices for meats, poultry, fish and eggs increased slightly by 0.21% during this period. And nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials experienced an increase of 0.84%, whereas the "other food at home" segment observed a moderate increase of 1%.

Related:Rising grocery prices gnaw at shopper loyalty

About the Author

Alarice Rajagopal

Contributing writer, Supermarket News

Alarice Rajagopal is a contributing writer for Supermarket News, which delivers the ultimate in competitive business intelligence, news and information for executives in the food retail and grocery industry. She has over 10 years of writing experience covering the consumer goods business and technology industry. Alarice has also written for a variety of other industries and content areas over her editorial career including retail, cyber security, hospitality and marketing/product marketing for the B2B space.

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