Overall grocery costs and seafood prices soared in March, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index data.
The cost of food eaten away from home experienced the largest 12-month increase since March 1981, rising 10 percent, with the largest price hikes hitting meat, milk, butter, and oils.
Seafood prices spiked 10.9 percent, according to the CPI, with frozen seafood experiencing the largest increase at 13.9 percent. Fresh seafood costs rose 11.3 percent, while processed seafood prices rose 10.6 percent and shelf-stable seafood costs inclined 4.6 percent.
Those numbers differ from IRI and 210 Analytics data for March, which showed the biggest price hike in fresh seafood prices, at 12.1 percent. In response, fresh seafood sales plunged 10.4 percent to USD 505 million (EUR 467 million).
Retailers and analysts expect inflation to continue to increase, and for shoppers to feel the additional pain of increased gas prices and other supply-chain challenges caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Albertson’s reported a 10.2 percent increase in net sales and other revenue in its most recent quarter, with the company’s CEO, Vivek Sankaran, saying shoppers’ spending habits remain steadfast, Grocery Dive reported.
"We are still seeing the consumer [spending is] very strong. We’re not seeing any meaningful trade-downs," he said. “[But] whether the consumer will stay that way even if we go to the second half [of the year] or past the fall and inflation continues to be at 8 percent, 9 percent, I don’t know,” per Grocery Dive.
Vericast Retail and Consumer Behavior Expert Dave Cesaro told SeafoodSource said economic turmoil could continue into next year.
“With the CPI showing that consumer prices rose 8.5 percent in March – the highest since 1981 – and with what we are hearing from clients, inflation is currently the biggest driver of an increase in retail sales,” Cesaro said. “As a result of inflation being much higher than desired, more economists are predicting a recession in late 2022 or early 2023.”
The March Census Bureau Monthly Retail report found that grocery store sales rose 9.1 percent from March 2021, but “this growth is purely being driven by inflation rather than volume,” Cesaro added.
“A year ago, many consumers were focused on refreshing and remodeling homes. The new report points to a trend that consumers have leveled off on a lot of that and are shifting to spend their money on travel, eating out, and experiences,” Cesaro said.
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