Title: Food Prices Continue to Rise Sharply in 2021, Except Meat
Headings: Shrinking Portions: Visualizing Rising Food Prices
Misc
Shrinking Portions: Visualizing Rising Food Prices
The Global Food Price Index Continues Rising in 2021
The Rising Food Prices of 2020 and 2021
Food Price Indices Month-over-Month Change
Surging Demand for Food at Home Drives Higher Prices
Meat and Dairy Prices Aren’t Keeping Up
Fighting the Fear of Inflating Food Prices
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Content: The pandemic resulted in severe changes to the world’s eating habits, with restaurant walk-ins and reservations down by more than 60% while demand for food at home increased as people stocked up on essentials. To go alongside this, trade and supply chain disruptions in essential agricultural materials like fertilizer resulted in an inconsistent output from farmers and food producers, causing issues right as demand surged. Meat and Dairy Prices Aren’t Keeping Up
As other food prices rise, the lack of significant increases in meat prices could reflect the avoidance of more expensive food products during tighter times, a lack of supply chain disruptions and constraints compared to agricultural sectors, or a larger societal trend of reduced animal product consumption. Although dairy prices increased by 10% YoY in 2021, this increase was less than half of the price increases of cereals and sugar (21.7% and 22.3% respectively), and less than a quarter of vegetable oils prices which rose by 44%. Plant-based alternatives are rapidly growing in popularity as nearly one in four Americans are reducing their meat consumption while veganism is rising in select European nations. Interestingly, despite these trends, 2020 also saw U.S. meat purchases rise as 43% of Americans have been buying more meat since the start of the pandemic. Fighting the Fear of Inflating Food Prices
Whether meat prices catch up soon or not, the general trend of rising food prices poses a new inflationary pressure upon people around the world. With in-restaurant dining taking a backseat, the increased prices are felt by everyone as they stock their cupboards, and inflation fears have been brewing as nations make their way out of the pandemic. Rising government deficits and an increasing money supply represent efforts by governments to support citizens and national economies, but could ultimately be a key factor fueling the rising food prices. One thing is certain, if food prices continue rising by double-digit percentages in the coming months and years, incomes and government support will struggle to keep up.