SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — It’s possible you’ll be gearing as much as begin the grill and put together the right July 4 picnic, however you should still discover some sticker shock on grocery retailer cabinets, regardless of a brand new report exhibiting the typical cookout will price lower than final 12 months.
In line with the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), this 12 months marks the second-highest common Independence Day cookout price because the group started monitoring in 2013.
The common price of a Fourth of July picnic for 10 individuals will price $70.92 in 2025, down barely from $71.22 final 12 months.
“Inflation and lower availability of some food items continue to keep prices stubbornly high for America’s families,” mentioned AFBF affiliate economist Samantha Ayoub. “Excessive costs don’t imply more cash for farmers, nonetheless.”
“Farmers are price takers, not price makers,” she continued. “Their share of the meals retail greenback is simply 15%. The price of working their farm is up, from labor and transportation to taxes.”
The AFBF determines the typical price for cookout staples like cheeseburgers, potato salad and ice cream by having volunteers go to their native grocery shops nationwide to overview costs. This 12 months, the associated fee breakdowns had been collected in early June.
The 2025 information present a rise in the price of beef, potato salad and canned pork and beans, whereas there are drops in the price of pork chops, chips, and hamburger buns.
The desk beneath reveals this 12 months’s estimated prices on the left, beside final 12 months’s prices discovered by AFBF.
Item2025 Price2024 PriceGround beef, 2 kilos$13.33$12.77Chicken breasts, 2 kilos$7.79$7.83Pork chops, 3 kilos$7.79$15.49Cheese, 1 pound$3.54$3.57Hamburger buns, 1 bundle$2.35$2.41Homemade potato salad, 2 1/2 kilos$3.54$3.32Pork and beans, 2 kilos$2.69$2.49Potato chips, 16-ounce bag$4.80$4.90Chocolate chip cookies, 13-ounce bundle$4.00$3.99Ice cream, 1/2 gallon$5.69$5.65Strawberries, 2 pints$4.69$4.61Lemonade, 2 1/2 quarts$4.37$4.19Totals:$70.92$71.22AFBF
In line with the AFBF, 2025 marks the best worth for beef since they started monitoring cookout costs. Rising beef costs have been fueled by drought situations, client demand, and the latest New World screwworm menace. In the meantime, pork costs have dropped in comparison with final 12 months because of “elevated production and higher market hog weights.”
One other evaluation by Wells Fargo discovered comparable worth will increase during the last 12 months, in addition to increased prices throughout produce objects. Cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and child carrots are all up at the very least 1 % in that time-frame, whereas cherry tomatoes are up 3.7 %.
Frequent cookout items which have additionally seen a worth hike since 2024 embrace apple pie (1.5 %), beer and wines (below 2 %), liter bottles of soda (2 %), and flavored glowing waters (4.7 %). Eggs, seemingly nonetheless seeing excessive costs because of the avian flu, are up 40 % during the last 12 months, in accordance with Wells Fargo.
The newest Shopper Worth Index reveals at-home meals prices are up 2.2 % during the last 12 months. The price of meals away from dwelling, in the meantime, is up 3.8 %.
