The price of a Fourth of July cookout will cost slightly less this summer, according to a survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).
AFBF’s summer cookout menu of 14 food items consists of hot dogs and buns, cheeseburgers and buns, pork spare ribs, deli potato salad, baked beans, corn chips, lemonade, chocolate milk, ketchup, mustard and watermelon. The survey reveals the average cost of a summer cookout for 10 people is $55.70, or $5.57 per person—a slight 1 percent drop from last year.
“As expected, higher production has pushed retail meat prices down,” AFBF Director of Market Intelligence Dr. John Newton said. “Competition in the meat case is making grilling for July 4 even more affordable for consumers this year.”
AFBF found that overall retail prices have decreased. Specifically, lower-priced pork spare ribs and American cheese contributed to the 14-cent decline of the total price of this year’s cookout.
“We saw a 60-cent decline in ribs, and a 24 cents per-pound decline in American cheese,” Newton said in an interview with Newsline.
Newton noted the retail price of American cheese has declined due to an abundance of supplies and competition.
He said consumer demand for watermelon has contributed to higher retail prices despite the increase in production.
The year-to-year direction of the marketbasket survey is consistent with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index report for food at home. Newton attributes the declines in the prices consumers pay to the hard work of American farmers and ranchers.