Currently, food prices are running about 10 percent higher than a year ago, and USDA economists are already trying to plan a food price forecast for 2023.
Matt MacLachlan tracks retail food prices, and this time last year, he estimated costs would rise by two percent in 2022, but the economy had other ideas. He says the task is daunting, but producers and consumers rely on these estimates, and when it comes down to it, we should not expect food prices to be lower next year.
“In rough terms, are all food pricing forecasts between 2.5 and 3.5 percent? Food away from home is 3 to 4 percent and food at home is 2 to 3 percent. Food price inflation is not going to be negative and it’s going to be above historical norms, that each of these lies above the 20-year average that we’ve seen in the past. So what we’re expecting is, no, we don’t expect prices to keep increasing like they have this year, but we do expect that they are going to increase faster than they have in the past,” said MacLachlan.
While prices may remain high, he said increases could be less sharp than we saw this year.
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