AFBF: Spring Basket Prices Increased From 2017

The annual informal survey finds that the prices of common food items for the Easter holiday are slightly higher than last year.

“Our 93 volunteer shoppers from across the United States found the average price for a spring market basket for 16 items came in at $51.05," said American Farm Bureau Federation market intelligence director John Newton.  "That’s up 2% from what we saw year over year, or about $1.02 for that 16-item basket.

Newton added weather and foreign demand contributed to price increases in orange juice and eggs.

"When we think about why we saw higher orange juice prices, that’s really going to be due to the devastating hurricane we saw come up the western coast of Florida and its impact on the orange crop.  So, then on the egg side, we saw egg exports in 2017 up on volume basis about 50% while production remained relatively flat.  So, the obvious solution to that is egg prices in the basket increased about 37% or nearly 50 cents per dozen.”

Newton said the survey tracks closely with government data on the price of food items.

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