Market Trends: Average Wholesale Price Drops Slightly, But Most Categories Increased
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
We thought there might be one more week with a slight decrease before further increases, and it looks like that is the case. Both average Commodity (-0.54%) and average Wholesale (-0.89%) fell this week, but 8 categories saw increases in average Wholesale prices, particularly in Meat & Poultry.
Pork Loin (+7.65%) jumped the highest followed by Pork Shoulder (+5.57%), Shell Eggs (+5.41%), Fresh Potatoes (+4.26%), Ground Beef (+3.51%), Chicken Breast (+2.98%), Fresh Onion (+1.58%), and Chicken Wing (+1.49%). Many of these categories also saw Commodity prices increase, which points to more increases near term.
Fresh Bell Pepper (-11.12%) saw a huge drop and we also see big decreases in Fresh Lettuce (-9.76%) and Beef Strip Loin (-5.64%). Those three outweighed all of the increases, but don’t count on that happening again.
Expect increases across the board next week with Memorial Day weekend, graduations, and all of the macro-economic forces that continue to impact food costs.
Category Trends
Ground Beef
Overall market forces did more than keep Wholesale flat, it jumped 3.51% despite Commodity (-1.28%) dropping again. Expect Wholesale to continue to climb in the coming weeks.
Shell Eggs
Commodity (0.00%) stayed flat but Wholesale increased 5.41%. If Commodity is flat to down, look for Wholesale to flatten as well.
Pork Loin
Wholesale popped 7.65%. Commodity dropped 6.01%, which should pull Wholesale down slightly near term.
Pork Shoulder
Wholesale (+5.57%) increased even more than Commodity (+2.37%). Everything seems to indicate more increases in the future.
Fresh Lettuce
Wholesale (-9.76%) came down as expected. Commodity's (-0.17%) fall seems to have flattened out, so look for Wholesale to do likewise next week.
Fresh Potatoes
Both Commodity (+4.05%) and Wholesale (+4.26%) jumped this week. If Commodity continues to rise, Wholesale will follow.
Chicken Breast
Last week's Commodity spike pushed up Wholesale (2.98%) this week. Commodity (+1.71%) is up again, though slightly less, which means we should see a smaller increase in Wholesale next week.
Fresh Bell Pepper
Finally got that drop in Wholesale (-11.12%) and Commodity (-8.11%) fell big as well. Should bring down Wholesale prices for at least one more week.
Fresh Onion
Wholesale (+1.58%) saw a moderate increase, but Commodity (-5.24%) had a steep drop. That should hold Wholesale prices flat to down nest week.
Beef Strip Loin
Drop in Commodity (-2.26%) but an even bigger decrease in Wholesale (-7.57%). Slow moving product? We expect flat to down next week.
Chicken Wing
Commodity (-4.80%) continues to drop. Wholesale (-1.96%) drops as well, but not as much as wholesalers likely are capturing some margin. Likely that prices stay flat to down.
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