Feeding guests at your Super Bowl party will be more expensive this year — but increases in game-day snack prices aren't as steep as they were when inflation was hot. Food costs are now rising at a slower rate.
Bad news for party hosts: The price of tortilla chips — a Super Bowl must-have (and the obvious star of the show) — is up more than 38% from last year, to an average of $6.32. The price of the delicious salsa blanco has risen nearly 19%, to an average of $6.08 for a 15-ounce jar.
That's according to an analysis of the average retail cost on Feb. 3 among 14 popular Super Bowl food products conducted by Datasembly, a data company that collects weekly price information from retailers. Chili and guacamole prices have stabilized since last year, and salsa and burger prices have also declined slightly, according to Datasembly.
The item that saw the biggest price drop was vanilla ice cream, down more than 2% to $5.57 for 48 ounces.
Datasembly's Super Bowl Favors basket totals $86.99 this year, an increase of 4% from last year. This increase pales in comparison to the 13.8% rise in last year's basket, reflecting a general slowdown in grocery inflation.
“Skip the chips and dips of this year's Super Bowl,” the company said in a statement. Of course, that's easier said than done: Tortilla chips are the top-selling Super Bowl snack, according to Instacart CART,
Some additional bad news for Kansas City Chiefs fans: Super Bowl party merchandise basket prices are up 7.2% over the past year in Kansas City, compared to just a 3.6% rise in San Francisco, according to Datasembly. The Chiefs will face the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 PM ET.
How to save money on Super Bowl party food
There's hope for Super Bowl party hosts who want to make a big splash without breaking the bank. A blogger in Wichita, Kansas, compared prices on his 28-item menu at Aldi, Dillons, and Walmart WMT.
“Aldi is the cheapest place to shop for Super Bowl party food,” he concluded. His total was about $72 there.
TikTok video about throwing a Super Bowl party for $18 by shopping at Dollar Tree DLTR,
— the menu is frozen pizza, cream cheese pepper bites, soda, cheese puffs, ranch dressing, popcorn and crackers — and it went viral, with 1.3 million views by Wednesday afternoon.
Home cooks can also save money by preparing some dishes from scratch, including salsa, guacamole and pizza, rather than buying them ready-made. But cost savings may depend on whether you can make large batches and limit the number of ingredients, as purchasing a batch of different products can be expensive.
If the price of tortilla chips at your local store has become unaffordable, here's a very simple recipe that might be cheaper if you already have some of the ingredients in your pantry.
Food costs remain a burden despite slowing inflation
The overall increase in Super Bowl party food prices is another reminder that even with inflation falling, grocery prices are putting pressure on consumers. Rising grocery prices have placed a significant burden on families, especially low-income families, according to a recent study from the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive think tank.
Grocery prices are now 25% higher than before the pandemic, according to inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is due to a number of factors, including climate change, supply chain disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine, and “corporate profiteering,” the Groundwork Collaborative said.
“We don't have a price stability problem, we have a price gouging problem,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative. “Grocery revenues remain so high because companies decided to keep them high, even as their input costs fell.”
Leading chip manufacturer, Frito-Lay PEP,
The company, which owns brands such as Tostitos, Lay's, Doritos and Ruffles, did not respond to a request for comment.
The White House is pressuring businesses — including grocery stores — to lower prices, saying retail prices have not fallen despite lower costs. “Our message is very clear and one that the president has relied on and will continue to rely on, which is that if you are a company whose input prices have fallen and you are not passing those savings on to the consumer, he will call you,” Jared Bernstein, chairman of Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers, said, according to Reuters. To get out.”
The National Grocers Association, which represents independent grocers, said large chains are forcing suppliers to offset higher production costs by charging smaller retailers more, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Kroger KR,
One of the nation's largest grocery companies is seeking regulatory approval to merge with Albertsons ACI.
Saying that the deal will lead to lower prices for customers. Some lawmakers were skeptical about the potential impact of the proposed merger on consumers.
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See also: For Super Bowl LVIII, TV viewers are waiting for “doink cameras” and augmented reality
