Fourth of July cookout prices rise
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As you prepare for your Fourth of July cookout, be ready to pay more at the grocery store than last year. The Indiana Farm Bureau said Tuesday Hoosiers can expect to spend an average of $69.47 for a cookout feeding 10 people, an 8% increase over 2022.
The numbers come from the Indiana Farm Bureau’s annual Summer Cookout Market Basket Survey.
The survey examined the cost of ground beef, cheese, hamburger buns, pork chops, chicken breasts, pork and beans, potato salad, strawberries, chips, ice cream, cookies and lemonade to reach the $69.47 average.
Indiana’s market basket price is about 3% higher, or 18 cents more, than the U.S. average. It’s the first time since 2019 that Indiana’s price came in above the national average, the INFB said.
“We are still seeing food inflation throughout the whole supermarket, specifically with items that require more processing, labor and transportation,” INFB Chief Economist Todd Davis said in a news release. “This impacts items like cookies and chips that are non-perishable with no urgency to sell by a strict deadline, meaning grocery stores don’t need to discount to move inventory.”
The survey was conducted in early June by volunteer shoppers across the state who collected prices on specific food items from their local grocery stores.
The bureau said the only items that are less expensive then last year are cheese and pork chops, which were relatively unchanged. The items that were “significantly above” the U.S. average were chocolate chip cookies, chicken breasts and chips.
Davis noted that the survey was conducted before many stores offer Fourth of July sales, so Hoosiers may see slightly reduced prices leading up to the holiday.
The INFB also noted that as food prices increase for consumers, input prices are also growing for farmers.
“This year’s summer cookout market basket reflects what Hoosiers are seeing when they go to their local grocery stores,” said Isabella Chism, 2nd Vice President of the INFB. “Farmers are consumers too, and we experience the price increase at the grocery store as well as on the farm.”