According to the Food Institute, increases in wholesale prices for finished consumer foods outpaced increases in retail food prices
According to the Food Institute, increases in wholesale prices for finished consumer foods outpaced increases in retail food prices. However, the gap between wholesale and retail prices has remained consistent from a historical perspective. During the 18 months ending April 2011, wholesale price increases also exceeded those at retail and fluctuated widely several times. Throughout that period, wholesale prices advanced, on average, over 3 percentage points faster than retail compared with only a 1.1 percentage point average difference in the past 12 months. This is largely due to less fluctuation at the wholesale level overall. On a category basis, beef and poultry prices have been increasing at more rapid rates at both the wholesale and retail level. The lack of inflation at the retail level is a good omen for consumers, however, who are seeing more stability in grocers’ food prices after a steady upward trek in 2010 and 2011, followed by lower inflation in 2012. It is also good news for food retailers, who saw their sales increase 2.4% in the first four months of 2013 – more than double the 1.1% retail food inflation rate during the same period.