- DAILY MAIL - ALEX HAMMER - ARTIGO EM EINGLÊS - APR 26, 2022 -
From swapping types of meat to buying whole chickens instead of pre-packaged cuts: Cost of beef rises 20% while poultry sees 13% price hike
Rising food prices and shrinking portion sizes have forced Americans to change their shopping habits, new statistics reveal
Consumers are now foregoing fresh options for frozen foods, per consumer data
The Consumer Price Index report also revealed that consumers, adapting to rising costs, are now electing to buy store brand meats in lieu of name brands
The price of beef is up 20.4 percent from last year, according to the report, while poultry has risen 13.4 percent - spurring some to buy smaller packages of meat
Another phenomenon to emerge as a result of rising costs is shrinkflation - where companies keep prices the same, but downsize portion sizes
The US inflation rate currently stands at 8.5 percent, the highest seen since 1981
Rising food prices and shrinking portion sizes have forced Americans to change their shopping habits, new statistics reveal, with many now foregoing fresh options for their frozen counterparts as inflation is the highest it has been in four decades.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index report, shoppers with incomes of less than $40,000 are not buying as much fresh meat and seafood at their local grocery, and are now turning to frozen or canned food instead.
The report also revealed that consumers, adapting to rising costs, are now electing to buy more store brand meats in lieu of more expensive, previously popular options, such as Boar's Head and Tyson.
The price of beef is up 20.4 percent from last year, according to the report, while poultry has risen 13.4 percent - spurring some to buy smaller packages of meat, said Joan Driggs, vice president of content at IRI, a market research firm.
'If you watch the meat case, [shoppers] will rifle through some of those packs until they find the lowest price,' Driggs told Axios Monday.
A social media user, meanwhile, told the outlet that rising poultry prices had forced her to begin butchering whole chickens instead of picking up her usual pre-packaged, in order to cut costs.
'Consumers are really adept and they're nimble when it comes to their spending habits,' Food Industry Association (FMI) Senior Vice President of Communications Heather Garlich told the outlet of the phenomenon.