A shopper in a supermarket in New York, 1 March 2022 (credit: rblfmr / Shutterstock.com)

Food prices in the US were 10.4% higher in December than they were 12 months earlier, the latest government data shows.

The rise compared to a 10.6% year-on-year increase in November, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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The bureau’s latest Consumer Price Index also revealed food prices were marginally up on the previous month, rising 0.3%, although that increase was down on the 0.5% month-on-month increase recorded for November.

Some of the food categories still showing heightened levels of inflation include cereals and bakery, which was up 16.1% year-on-year. The prices of dairy and related products rose 15.3%. The cost of meats, poultry, fish and eggs was up 7.7%, the data showed.

The food-at-home index rose 11.8% over the previous 12-month period. The foodservice channel also saw a price hike with the index for full-service meals rising by 8.2%. According to the Bureau, food-away-from-home prices rose 8.3% over 12 months.

Food inflation continues to outpace general consumer price increases with
consumer prices rising by 6.5% in December year-on-year. This was down from November’s 7.1%.

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Market watchers will be keen to see if pricing actions from supply chain inflation-hit US food manufacturers, passed on by supermarkets, are likely to continue this year.

Last week, Conagra Brands said it was in a “margin-recovery phase” as the food group’s sequential pricing catches up with input-cost inflation.

The snacks, frozen foods and cupboard staples supplier’s CEO Sean Connolly said margins are now “more in line with pre-pandemic levels” but, although it raised the outlook for growth and adjusted EPS, it still envisages gross inflation for fiscal 2023 to be around around 10% which it says has to be factored into conversations with retailers.

But Connolly said pricing will be “smaller and more targeted”, moving forward.