Despite inflation and shortages, these less-expensive food items are here to help your monthly grocery expenses.
A trip to the grocery store is becoming increasingly expensive due to inflation, and the problem has only been exacerbated by shortages. In recent months, the prices of eggs, butter, and lettuce, among other grocery staples, have skyrocketed. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, at-home food prices have jumped 11.8% since last year. And while costs are, unfortunately, expected to remain high throughout 2023, there is *some* light at the end of the tunnel.
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"We're seeing some healing in the U.S. food system," Wells Fargo chief agricultural economist, Michael Swanson, told USA Today. "The last two years have been a real shock to a lot of people, but we're starting to see a lot of things start working in our favor again."
While prices on some grocery items continue to climb, others are actually dropping (or remain unchanged). These are the foods that will cost you less in 2023.
After a surge in avocado prices in 2022 (a 31% year-over-year increase in July, according to CNN Business), prices have come down drastically. The wholesale price for a 48-count carton of mid-sized avocados has dropped 35% (a difference of $30 compared to the previous year), senior fresh produce analyst at Rabo AgriFinance, David Magana, told the news outlet. An oversupply is largely to thank for the price drop.
"It's one of those odd situations where this extreme oversupply of avocados is only possible because of a perfect storm of Black Swan events," FTI Consulting's managing director of food, agriculture, and beverage Richard Kottmeyer told CNN. "For consumers, avocados right now are the green lining to the storm clouds of food inflation."
Related: 18 Recipes for Perfectly Ripe Avocados
The price of chicken began falling around November 2022, following a spike in the same year due to an undersupply. In fact, by the Super Bowl this year, chicken wings had dropped from $3.38 per pound to $2.65 per pound.
"If [consumers are] being pinched, their real spending power is falling, poultry is going to look like a good option," Purdue University Agriculture Economics department head Jayson Lusk told CNN in late 2022.
Shoppers have also seen a steady and consistent decline in bacon costs over the past year-it dropped a whopping 4%, ABC reports. The entire pork category is falling in terms of prices, including roasts, steak, and ribs, which have seen a 5.1% drop.
Related: Is Twisting Bacon the Secret to Your Best Bacon Ever?
Like pork, beef is also becoming more affordable to consumers. Uncooked beef roasts have decreased 8.1% in price, while uncooked beef steaks are down 7.4%, CNN reports.
According to the USDA ERS Summary Findings, beef and veal are expected to decrease at least 1.2% more throughout 2023.
Fruit and veggie prices have been on the rise over the last year (and fruits are expected to continue to increase): Farm-level vegetable prices jumped 35.1% in April and were 50.9% higher than April 2022, but prices remain much lower than the peak price in November 2022. They're also expected to decrease overall 3.1% by the end of 2023.
While inflation continues to be a persistent problem in 2023, with continued price spikes for dairy products, butter, eggs, cereals and bakery items, alcoholic beverages, and more, the USDA reports that things are looking up as the cost of some items turns downward. Just get ready to fire up the grill and add chicken wings and burgers to your cart, and you may save some money on groceries this year.
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