You shouldn’t have to pinch too many pennies shopping for your Independence Day cookout this year. The average cost for a party of ten only rose 11 cents compared to last year, according to an annual survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation.
A cookout including hot dogs, cheeseburgers, pork spareribs, potato salad, baked beans, lemonade and watermelon costs $52.80, or $5.28 per person.
Compared to AFBF’s survey last year, ground beef, watermelon, hot dogs, baked beans and hamburger bun prices were higher this year. Potato salad, spareribs, American cheese, and lemonade prices were lower. “Strong consumer demand for beef and growth in U.S. meat production has led to higher ground beef prices but lower pork sparerib prices for the 4th of July,” AFBF Chief Economist John Newton said.
Newton added consumers should also see lower cheese prices due to record-high milk and increased cheese production for 2019. AFBF also started tracking the average cost of 1.5 quarts of vanilla ice cream this year. When including ice cream, total cookout costs are $56.38, which still are under $6 per person.
Some 114 AFBF members in 34 states served as “volunteer shoppers” to check retail prices for July 4th cookout foods at local grocery stores. The year-to-year direction of this survey tracks closely with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index report for food at home. Both surveys remain relatively flat compared to last year.
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