Chicken breasts and pork chops cost less at the supermarket than a year ago, and that will slightly bring down the price of a summer cookout, said the American Farm Bureau Federation on Tuesday. Still, the price tag for the groceries needed to feed 10 people lemonade, ice cream, burgers, potato salad, and other cookout fare would be the second-highest in the 11 years of the unofficial survey conducted ahead of Independence Day.
The cash register total would be $67.73 this year, said the group, the largest farm organization in the U.S., based on reports from volunteer shoppers who checked prices at 240 stores in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Last year, amid high food inflation, the cookout tally was a record $69.88. The grocery inflation rate has slowed to 5.8 percent, according to the monthly Consumer Price Index report.
“Families are still feeling the pinch of high inflation along with other factors keeping prices high,” said AFBF chief economist Roger Cryan.
Meat accounts for half of the cost of the protein-rich AFBF shopping list. While the cost of two pounds of ground beef is up by 42 cents from last year, the price for two pounds of chicken breasts, $8.14, and three pounds of pork chops, $14.37, is down by a combined $1.77, which accounts for most of the $2.15 decline from 2022’s total.
Prices for potato chips, pork and beans, lemonade, cookies and potato salad were down from 2022. Hamburger buns, ice cream and strawberries cost more. Cheese prices were unchanged.