IRI: Grocery Prices Rise 1.4% in October

Data firm IRI has released its October 2022 Price Check report, showing a 1.4% increase in food and beverage prices in October compared to September.

IRI’s data show that inflation at the grocery store slowed for the first time this year in September. The slight increase in October signals a stabilization in food inflation in the past three months. IRI said that the increased prices are still pushing consumers to reduce spending, switch to private brands, consume more meals at home and more.

“As overall food inflation continued to increase from September, consumers are trading down on several products such as detergents and frozen meals, and are moving to value items,” said Krishnakumar (KK) Davey, president of Thought Leadership for CPG and Retail, IRI and NPD. “With the holidays approaching, shoppers are being mindful of their budgets and are looking for value. Yet, we do see some segments of consumers continuing to pay a premium for differentiated or new products. Some shoppers buy larger packs, despite higher prices, in order to get good value for money.”

The October data shows that the produce and deli categories have seen inflation moderate to 8.4% compared to last year. Center store inflation, including snacks, frozen meals and other frozen foods has risen every month in 2022 and is now at 14.9% compared to the year-ago period.

The fresh meat & seafood and alcohol segments are only up 4.5% and 5.5% compared to the year-ago period, while other categories, such as dairy (+21.3%) and frozen meals and other frozen foods (+18.4%), are up significantly. 

To compensate for these price increases, some shoppers are buying less. Volumes were down more than 10% in October in categories such as frozen poultry (-15.5%), deli service lunchmeat (-11.4%), frozen dinners (-10.9%) and shelf-stable dinners (-10.8%).

The full report from IRI can be found here.