By Jennifer Whitlock
Field Editor
That snack spread for Sunday’s big game will be more costly this year as inflation and supply chain issues continue to take their toll.
Overall, food-at-home prices, which is meant to encompass standard groceries and typical products Americans need to make meals at home, rose marginally in January 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported.
The 1% increase was a welcome relief after months of rising indexes. Overall, in 2021 the food-at-home index increased 6.5%.
Meat, poultry, fish and eggs rose 12.5% over the course of 2021, hitting Americans deep in their pocketbooks.
Now, chips and dips, pigs in a blanket, burgers and many other common foods Americans love to eat during the big game have risen in price anywhere from 2-20%.
Poultry and chicken wings
Chicken wings are one of football fan’s favorite foods. Wholesale wing prices are down 19% from the high last May, which translates to just a small increase at the retail level. Chicken wings are only up about $0.30 per pound on average, according to the National Chicken Council (NCC).
The increase in price can be attributed to unusually high demand, record input costs, labor shortages that have reduced the supply of many goods, and government spending programs that have flooded the economy. Greater demand and less supply equals higher prices, ultimately resulting in the highest inflation our country has seen in 40 years.
Americans are expected to eat 1.42 billion chicken wings this weekend, according to the NCC’s 2022 Wing Report.
“There will be no wing shortage,” NCC spokesperson Tom Super said. “Like almost anything else you buy right now, wings might be a little more expensive, but they’ll be stocked. I just wouldn’t wait until kickoff to be in line or order online.”
Chips and dips
The average price of potato chips (of any flavor) has risen from $4.50 per 16 ounces in February 2019 to as much as $5.27 over the past 12 months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
The cost of potato chips has gone up an average of 6.5% since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In 2021, potato chip prices settled a bit, averaging a 2.7% increase across the entire year.
Want some guacamole to go with those chips?
Wholesale avocados cost about $26 per 20-pound crate right now, making this year’s dip the costliest guacamole ever served.
Although the green fruits typically go up in price in the weeks before the big game, this year’s big increase is multifactorial, according to Bloomberg News. High demand, labor shortages, higher production costs and wage hikes have contributed to higher prices at wholesale and then again at retail.
Cheese—the main ingredient in queso and oh-so-necessary for quesadillas, nachos and more game day delights—decreased slightly in 2021. Cheese and related products were down 0.6% in December 2021 over December 2020.
Pork and beef
Bacon, which rose about 20% last year, is still sizzling hot. But there’s good news for those who can’t live without bacon-wrapped jalapeños on game day. Bacon prices stayed flat from November to December.
At the highest, BLS data shows bacon was about $7.32 per pound on average in 2021. It’s now hovering around $7.21 nationally.
Pigs in a blanket are probably going to be a little bit more expensive, though.
Breakfast sausage and related products, like cocktail wieners and hot dogs, star ingredients in the dough-wrapped appetizers, saw a 12.8% increase in cost during 2021. In December, that category was up 1.4% from the prior.
Beef costs more these days. Overall, beef and veal rose an average of 17.6% in 2021.
Ground beef , necessary for hamburgers and chili, soared 16.5% last year. A pound of 100% ground beef excluding round, chuck or sirloin now costs Americans about $4.60. Lean or extra-lean ground beef is $6.31 per pound, nearly an all-time high.
Other beef items like boneless stew meat, ribeye steak and sirloin steak are up, too.
More information
More information on the Consumer Price Index series is available here. For the latest on chicken wings, the most popular game day food, click here.