Bonji Foods Aficionado Smart Brief: Volume 55
Hi all, welcome back to the Bonji Food Aficionado Smart Brief! Happy Tuesday and we hope you had an amazing weekend! The year 2022 was a rollercoaster for prices across the board, regardless of what industry you focus on. Yet, if we hone in on the food and restaurant industry, most ingredient prices were reaching all-time highs throughout the year. Specifically, raw chicken prices were about 70% higher than its year-over-year average. It wasn't until after June/July 2022 that we saw chicken prices begin to dip. Now that we have hit the new year, it seems that chicken prices are lower than the average. Could this be a sign of good things to come?
Chicken Prices are Low, But What Does That Mean For Everything Else? We don't want to get you too excited too early, even if signs are starting to point in the right direction. For chicken, prices are hovering around 98 cents per pound, well below the highs of over $3.00. In other categories, eggs, milk, butter, and flour all saw historic highs over the course of last year. In all, general grocery prices saw a record high 11.8% higher bill than the year-over-year average. With that being said, restaurants have been battling with suppliers, trying their best to keep costs low in order to avoid passing along price hikes to customers. Yet the processing, delivery, and all the other fees that come along with ordering ingredients don't seem to be easing all that much. It's always a great sign when gas prices dip, but there's more to the process than just that. Supply chain and labor issues have been a massive reason why prices don't seem to be getting any better, and that may continue well into 2023. Furthermore, we all hear about inflation, whether it's fully understood or not. There are definitely hopes that this will ease around the summertime, but for now, it's still time to strap in. However, even with a mixed bag of forecasts, a general consensus seems to show that food prices should shallow out by year's end. Looking forward, chicken is going to be our hopeful benchmark for the future. A lot of this is out of anybody's true control, so hang in there and keep an eye on the ever-changing markets. It might be too early to get our hopes up, but we like to be optimistic even through pessimistic times.
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