A vast majority (84 percent) of consumers describe current grocery prices in their area as “high” to some degree, according to the Consumer Food Insights Report conducted in March. Eighteen percent say grocery prices are “very high.”
The survey-based report comes from Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS). It assesses food spending, consumer satisfaction and values, support of agricultural and food policies, and trust in information sources. Purdue experts conducted and evaluated the survey, which included 1,200 consumers across the U.S.
“Consumers continue to express frustration with inflation, as general inflation and the economy are cited by 36 percent of consumers as the main factors influencing food prices,” says the report’s lead author, Joseph Balagtas, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue and director of CFDAS. “Nearly a quarter are unsure what is influencing food prices. Around 13 percent of consumers attribute current grocery prices to specific supply chain, production, and labor issues, and 8 percent say corporate greed or price gouging are to blame.”
The annual food inflation rate over the past year is 2.6 percent. This is lower than what consumers experienced between 2021 to 2023, when food inflation reached double digits. However, prices continue to rise, and many consumers are adapting their grocery shopping as a response.
Around 30 percent of consumers say they sought more sales and discounts over the past year. Twenty-six percent say they began switching to cheaper brands.
Consumers See Gardening As A Solution
“As we approach warm spring weather with eager anticipation, we wanted to explore households’ plans for home food production,” Balagtas noted.
Nearly half of households say they currently produce or are planning to produce their own food, with vegetable and fruit gardening as the most popular (82 percent) production activity.
“One-third of households that produce their own food have or plan to have egg-laying hens,” Balagtas says. “With the ongoing egg shortage caused by avian flu, administering this question in future months could give us insight into whether more consumers are turning to producing their own eggs to fulfill their demand.”
Among those producing their own food, few raise livestock for meat or milk (15 percent) or maintain beehives for honey. Many of these methods of home food production typically require a large up-front investment, time, knowledge, and resources. Over 40 percent of rural households selected food security and preparedness as a primary reason for producing food compared to 20 percent of urban households.
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