Coronavirus caused food prices to skyrocket
Groceries costs increased 5.8 percent between March 1 and May 30
FOX Business' Kristina Partsinevelos on rocketing grocery store prices due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Food prices have reached record highs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prices for food bought in stores increased 1 percent over the month of May and 4.8 percent during the past year, the highest it’s been in nearly a decade since 2012 when prices increased by 5.3 percent, according to the most recent statistics from the Labor Department.
Grocery store prices have continued to climb. (iStock).
What’s more, food prices increased 5.8 percent between March 1 and May 30, compared with the same time a year ago, according to Market-research firm Nielsen.
Because of the constrained supply chain, retailers have struggled to keep products on the shelf, and as a result, they’ve pulled back on the number of promotional offers, Scott McKenzie, global intelligence leader at Nielsen, told FOX Business Wednesday.
“This has led to higher prices that shoppers are paying, particularly in the earlier periods of the pandemic," he explained.
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The price of steaks, ribs and pork roasts are up 10 percent and whole chicken is up 7 percent, according to the latest stats from the Consumer Price Index.
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Beef and pork plants were running at around 60 percent capacity by mid-May. And while that number has since increased to almost 90 percent, economists say a second wave of COVID-19 could make it much worse for production.
As a result, analysts say eaters can expect food prices to continue to escalate as company costs continue to be passed on to consumers.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.