As the weather warms up around the country, more Americans are firing up their grills. But the cost to host a barbecue will likely be significantly more this year than last.
Retail prices for many ingredients essential to a barbecue — everything from burgers to ribs to fruit salad — are going up.
Indeed, overall, retail food prices in March increased 0.4 percent from last month (compared with 0.2 percent from all items), and a seasonally unadjusted 1.7 percent from last year (compared with 1.5 percent for all items), according to CPI data released Tuesday.
What’s more, “food prices collectively are not finished going up,” says Don Close, an economist with Rabo AgriFinance — thanks to a variety of factors including the drought affecting the West, he explains. And many of the hardest-hit foods are grilling staples like burgers and ribs, as meat, including beef, poultry and fish, rose 1 percent from last month and 4.9 percent from last March.
One of the biggest shocks that consumers hoping to host a barbecue will see is in the price of beef, as already, retail beef prices hit an all-time high this year.
What’s more, ground beef prices climbed 2.2 percent and steak prices 2.6 percent since February, according to March CPI data released Tuesday. And “prices should stay high throughout the summer,” said IBISWorld analyst Antal Neville.
The reasons for these sky-high beef prices include cattle herds being near 63-year lows and the droughts throughout the West. “Consumers are already seeing high prices for beef and they will continue to,” Neville says.
Unfortunately, switching to pork may not help you save as much money as you’d like, as pork prices are up 1.1 percent from February.
This year, pig herds were affected by the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, which kills young pigs.
“This clearly had an impact on newborn pigs over the winter, but we don’t know how severe this was and there are broadly contrasting views throughout the industry,” says Close.
“It’s a big wildcard.” Still, Neville points out that even if that disease wasn’t that severe, the price of beef — which is very high — affects the price of pork. “When beef prices are higher, people switch and that can increase the demand for pork and drive prices up,” he says.
Even if you stay clear of meat, you’re still going to experience sticker shock when it comes to your other ingredients.
Overall, fruits and veggies have increased in price 0.9 percent from last month, according to CPI data; this is largely due to the drought in California, says Neville.
Some of the worst-hit items are fresh fruits (up 3.1 percent from February) and in particular citrus fruits (up 7.5 percent) as well as apples (up 1.2 percent) — all key ingredients in popular fruit-salad sides. Pair that meal with a cocktail, and you could be talking even more money.
To save money on your barbecue, Maura White, a deal pro for Savings.com and the founder of HappyDealHappyDay.com, says that most of the deals on meat are found on Wednesdays, likely in the evenings, though for specific deals at your grocery store, you should ask the butcher when they plan to put meat on sale or ask about some less expensive cuts.
She also recommends trying to combine coupons and in-store sales and then stocking up on the items and freezing them for later use. To save on produce, she says, you should look to items that are in season and grown locally to save. Consumers should also consider grocery-saving apps like Grocery IQ and Favado.
This article originally appeared on Marketwatch.com.