Super Bowl Snack Price Report: Cheaper Chicken Wings, More Avocados
“People are concerned about food inflation right now,” says Dr. Michael Swanson, Wells Fargo Chief Agricultural Economist highlighting overall food inflation up 11. 8% for at-home food and 8.3% for food-away-from home.
However, in the Wells Fargo Super Bowl Food Report, Swanson says some popular snacks found on the Super Bowl spread, are actually going to be less expensive this year than last. His report pulls data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, USDA, Federal Reserve Economic Data and Nielsen Research.
“Some premier celebration foods have actually dropped from a year ago. The report for the Super Bowl found that we have a much more chicken wings in the freezer and refrigerator and when you have more supply, the price is certainly much better,” Swanson says noting retail chicken wing prices are down 22% or more from January 2022, $3.38 per pound in 2022 vs. $2.65 per pound in early January 2023.
The guacamole can get a bit thicker this year as avocado prices are down 20% from a year ago. Swanson credits more groves planted in Mexico as well as less strain in the freight market for helping ease the spike in the avocado prices.
Another category still at elevated prices but easing back from highs is sirloin steak, which Swanson highlights is $1 less per pound in 2023. Also while hamburger is still at an elevated price per pound, it is down from its highest around the Fourth of July holiday.
Some other categories could see easing at the grocery shelves, but it depends how quickly the price changes are rippled through the chain. Swanson says cheese is a good example as prices are going down, but retail prices haven’t shown that to a full extent yet.
For shoppers looking to save, Swanson doesn’t see radicle shifts in prepared foods vs. at home cooking according to the Nielsen data. For example, he sees the same demand for pre-cut veggie trays, or deli made dips and sides.
“That is human behavior that is just part of how people prep for a party,” he says. “If someone buys something at their retailer made there, they are going to continue to do so. And now coming out of the pandemic, the American consumer has embraced saving the time in preparation and cleaning up to buy pre-made foods.”
But he does encourage those looking for deals to hop from store to store.
“You’re going to have to trade off your time, but there are definitely deals to be had by shopping for the store feature items and making a few extra trips to get those deals,” he says.
Some categories that are up in 2023 are soft drinks (up more than 20%) and beer (up 11%.)
In summary, Swanson says there are many indicators that food prices is really coming back, and it might be a bright spot for the next three years.
“My biggest takeaway is the American food industry and farmers are really good at what they do and we're starting to see that healing process after the pandemic really come into play,” Swanson says. “This is really the first indication of that. While last year was a shock at 14% or 18% higher prices, and we were struggling for two or three years, it was very unusual. We're are used to 1% to 2% food inflation. I really think that we're going to see a major slowdown in food inflation, and then maybe over the next two or three years actually seen some of these categories go back to lower levels where they were previously as supply gets normalized.”
So no matter the winner of the Super Bowl, our snacking favorites are returning at the MVP.
