2023 Price Updates
Prior to Summer 2022, we forewarned our members that pricing would be significantly higher for food and kitchen related items. While we predicted these increases, we never thought it would result in the highest pricing increase we have ever seen for the food industry. A combination of supply chain issues, increased demand, product consolidation, manufacturing/growing issues, and other factors resulted in increases across nearly every category. It was not uncommon to see increases resulting in prices 3-5x the cost of previous years.
As of now, our HHPI indicators are showing Summer 2023 will be a much better year for both product pricing and availability.. While there are still many items where prices are trending higher, we have started to see some downward trends in pricing as well as improved inventory.
Here are some insights from our HHPI:
- Poultry* – Raw chicken prices have decreased by over 60% approaching the low 2019 pricing. Wings have gone from limited stock to overstocked. Turkey is the exception as supply chain is still not back to normal.
- Beef* – Raw beef including ground and cut are trending down over 20%.
- Pork* – Raw pork products including bacon, ribs, etc. are trending down over 40%
NOTE: Kosher Poultry and Beef have not seen the same decreases, but overall, the increases in those categories were not as severe as the Non-Kosher market. Our vendors are indicating better inventory as of now.
*While many of the raw protein products continue to drop in price, we have seen many of the precooked items stay flat from 2022. It is important to note that the increases in the precooked were not equal to the raw increases last year.
Grocery – This category has a wide range. Summer 2022 saw major increases in popular items such as pasta, cereal, and more. Pasta had limited availability at times last summer and we are seeing price increases across the board. Many of the grocery products are being impacted by the current egg pricing (see below) as well as the increases in grains including oats, wheat, etc.
Dairy – This category has a wide range of products. Milk based products are showing typical year-to-year increase, but as you are seeing in retail locations, eggs are trending extremely high in price. The good news is egg prices have dropped over 40% in the last month. We do believe this will continue until the Spring holidays (Easter/Passover) when egg pricing tends to go up and availability can be an issue.
Produce – This category trends based on the seasons. Last month, lettuce pricing was the highest it’s ever been but has already started to go down again. There is a major shortage of citrus, especially oranges, because of the hurricanes in Florida. This will affect products like orange juice as well. We will continue to monitor produce pricing and suggested options as the summer approaches.
Kitchen/Janitorial Supplies – This category continues to see price increases and limited inventory. Demand is still high based on decreased labor availability and many of these items are imports that are dependent on overseas production and freight costs. Similar to last year, we recommend ordering and taking delivery in early spring to avoid major shortages come summer.
