Market Trends: Proteins Go Down, Produce Goes Up (Now with Beef Striploin!)
Get to know how food prices have changed and where they are going with your Market Trends Report. Each week we’ll show you how both Wholesale and Commodity prices have changed. We’ll also include an analysis of how we expect Wholesale prices to change over the coming weeks to help you make the best purchasing decisions, all for free.
Market Overview
Average Wholesale and Commodity prices across all categories have their least amount of variance in the last 10 weeks, though we see more significant changes at the category level. Surprisingly, protein categories are down on average while produce categories are up.
Big Wholesale price increases in Fresh Bell Pepper (+9.51%), Fresh Lettuce (+6.57%), and Fresh Potatoes (+3.82%). Average Commodity prices are down across all of these categories, so we expect Wholesale prices to flatten in the future.
Drops are in Fresh Onion (-8.65%), Pork Loin (-7.98%), Beef Strip Loin (new addition!) (-5.18%), and Shell Eggs (-3.25%). Commodity prices in these categories are flat to down so we expect Wholesale to continue the trend in the short term.
Average Wholesale index did go up slightly, but not as much as expected. We anticipate more increases in Wholesale next week, though likely not any huge spikes unless unforeseen macro factors arise.
Category Trends
Ground Beef
Wholesale prices stayed flat (-0.21%) instead of increasing. With Commodity dropping (-2.88%) look for Wholesale to trend lower next week.
Shell Eggs
Wholesale came down 3.25%, exceeding drops in Commodity the previous wee. Flat Commodity pricing (0.00%) should lead to similar results in Wholesale.
Pork Loin
Wholesale (-7.98%) finally came back in line with Commodity trends. Commodity was relatively flat (+0.48%) and we expect Wholesale to follow.
Pork Shoulder
Wholesale pricing remained flat (-0.20%) but a big increase in Commodity (+12.38%) is going to lead to increases in Wholesale.
Fresh Lettuce
Wholesale did continue to trend up (+6.57%), just slightly less than the previous week. Commodity remains flat (-0.03%). We should see Wholesale flatten or come down.
Fresh Potatoes
As predicted, Wholesale prices popped (+3.82%). But, Commodity slingshotted back down (-14.48%) so Wholesale will likely come down or at least stay flat
Chicken Breast
Wholesale (+0.57%) did follow last week's Commodity increase. Commodity stayed flat, so expect Wholesale to do the same.
Fresh Bell Pepper
Our prediction was off here. Instead of following Commodity (-5.82%), Wholesale headed in the opposite direction (+9.51%). If price drivers in distribution continue to outweigh Commodity trends, we may see this continue.
Fresh Onion
Second straight week in lower Commodity prices (-2.45%) manages to bring down Wholesale (-8.65%). Expect Wholesale to flatten now that it is more in line with Commodity.
Beef Striploin
We added a new one! Wholesale tends to track Commodity with a week delay. With folks dining at home for the holiday the gap closed between the two markets and then widened in the New Year. While Wholesale (-5.18%) and Commodity (-15.22%) dropped this week, expect Wholesale to trend higher as we get to Valentine's Day.
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