At a cost of $99, the latest Rabobank BBQ Index is hotter than ever this year and consumers are feeling the heat.
The 2024 Rabobank BBQ Index, which measures the cost of staple ingredients for a 10-person barbecue, shows that it will cost $99 to host a cookout on the Fourth of July this year, up from $97 last year and $73 in 2018. This year, beer, beef, soda and lettuce account for a hefty 64% of total barbecue cost. That brings the inflation gain for a Fourth of July barbecue up to 32% since 2019.
Food inflation jumped 25% from 2019 to the end of 2023. But it has been the little bit of additional inflation in the first half of 2024 that has been the tipping point.
“The consumer is waving the white flag on food inflation,” said Tom Bailey, senior consumer foods analyst at Rabobank. “With an added 2% in price hikes in 2024 coupled with the cost disparity between dining out and cooking at home at its widest margin in history, we’re seeing heightened fatigue and frugality.”
Bailey, along with Rabobank senior beef analyst Lance Zimmerman, and senior poultry analyst Christine McCracken, took a look at the numbers and how consumers are adjusting their spending habits to cope during the BBQ Index presentation on Wednesday.