Market Trends: Whew! Finally Some Relief...Average Wholesale Down 2.15% WoW
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
Well, all of the price increases over the past five weeks must have had an impact on demand because we saw a temporary correction this week. Average Wholesale prices were down 2.15% with eight categories seeing drops. If you manage your inventory closely, this could be a good week to gain some margin.
Only three categories saw the average Wholesale price go up this week. Fresh Potatoes (+6.97%) went up the most followed by Pork Loin (+2.67%) and Chicken Breast (+0.86%) just barely.
We saw drops across a big mix of categories. Fresh Lettuce (-9.88%) was the biggest Wholesale percentage drop and prices also decreased for Pork Shoulder (-6.95%), Fresh Onions (-3.96%), Beef Strip Loin (-3.65%), Chicken Wings (-2.72%), Fresh Bell Pepper (-1.55%), Ground Beef (-0.37%), and amazingly Shell Eggs (-0.31%).
Don’t get too excited about the decrease in average Wholesale price. We see this as temporary blip as average Commodity price is up 0.65% and only three categories saw a drop in average Commodity. So enjoy these lower prices while they last.
Category Trends
Ground Beef
Wholesale (-0.37%) dropped slightly but a big increase in Commodity (+7.70%) means that Wholesale is likely to head up soon.
Shell Eggs
You all must have stopped buying eggs, because Wholesale actually came down 0.31% this week. Commodity (+8.31%) is still on the rise and we expect Wholesale to follow.
Pork Loin
Wholesale (+2.67%) is up again while Commodity (0.00%) stayed flat. If Commodity trends continue, we'd expect Wholesale to flatten out as well.
Pork Shoulder
Commodity (0.00%) is flat but we saw a big drop in Wholesale (-6.95%). This is the smallest gap between the two in a while. Have to think that Wholesale is going to bounce back up soon.
Fresh Lettuce
Wholesale (-9.88%) continued to follow Commodity (-5.48%) down. Commodity seems to be flattening out so look for prices to level out in the near term.
Fresh Potatoes
Big increase in demand? Commodity (-1.13%) dropped again while Wholesale shot up 6.97%. If Commodity stays flat, that should slow down the increase in Wholesale.
Chicken Breast
Wholesale (+0.86%) didn't come down, but it did stay relatively flat. Bump in Commodity (+3.60%) will drive up Wholesale next week.
Fresh Bell Pepper
Drop in Commodity (-3.11%) brought an unexpected drop in Wholesale (-1.55%). This is still a larger split between Wholesale and Commodity, so Wholesale could come down more.
Fresh Onion
Looks like some new crops are driving down Commodity (-15.7%) which pulled Wholesale (-3.96%) down as well. If Commodity continues to drop then Wholesale should as well.
Beef Strip Loin
We were wrong on this one. Wholesale (-3.65%) dropped even though Commodity (+0.76%) was up again. If demand is low, Wholesale has room to drop more, but it is more likely that Commodity increases drive Wholesale up.
Chicken Wing
Commodity (0.00%) flattened out and we had another drop in Wholesale (-2.72%). Would expect Wholesale to flatten out as well.
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