Food Prices, Expenditures, and Establishments

USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) develops and monitors indicators of individual, household, and market-level food consumption, prices, expenditures, food marketing costs, and farm-to-retail price spreads. Food choices are influenced by prices and income, as well as other factors. USDA, ERS has acquired proprietary data for use in food economics research.

USDA, ERS produces key data products and conducts research on:

Proprietary Data: These data are used to enable research on a variety of food-related USDA issues (e.g., food access, health, and security). Additional information is available on the Using Proprietary Data page.
Fruit and Vegetable Prices: The cost of fruits and vegetables, estimating average prices for over 150 commonly consumed fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, using 2013, 2016, and 2020 retail scanner data from Circana (formerly Information Resources, Inc. (IRI)).
Food Expenditure Series: The Food Expenditure Series is a comprehensive data set that measures the value of the U.S. food system by quantifying the value of food acquired in the United States at both the national and State levels. Interactive Chart: Food Expenditures provides interactive data visualizations for users.
Food Dollar Series: The Food Dollar Series measures annual expenditures by U.S. consumers on domestically produced food. This data series is composed of three primary series—the marketing bill series, the industry group series, and the primary factor series—that describe different aspects of the food-supply chain.
Food Price Outlook: The Food Price Outlook provides food price data and forecasts the change in prices of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) for food. The Food Price Environment Interactive Visualization provides interactive data visualizations for users.
Price Spreads from Farm to Consumer: Price spreads compare the prices paid by consumers for food with the prices farmers receive for their corresponding commodities. Highlights and Interactive Charts provide interactive data visualizations for users. See also the Meat Price Spreads data product.
Purchase to Plate: The Purchase to Plate Suite links USDA nutrition databases with grocery scanner data with two primary purposes: (1) Estimate prices for foods found in USDA’s What We Eat in America (WWEIA), the dietary component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and (2) Estimate nutrition information for a basket of grocery products.

Comparing Food Insecurity Among the U.S. Military and Civilian Adult Populations Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook: March 2024 Development of the Food-at-Home Monthly Area Prices Data Utilizing the USDA’s National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey to Calculate a Household-Level Food Environment Measure Vegetables and Pulses Outlook: December 2023

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U.S. Consumers Spent More on Food in 2022 Than Ever Before, Even After Adjusting for Inflation Recent Report Provides a New View of Food Sector Sales and Employee Counts in Proprietary Data Higher Retail Meat Prices Reduced Household Economic Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic Wholesale Beef Costs Rose as Cattle Prices Dropped During Supply-Chain Disruptions in 2020 Spending Gap Between Full-Service and Quick-Service Restaurants Widened During Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

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Food Price Outlook Food Dollar Series Food Expenditure Series Price Spreads from Farm to Consumer Fruit and Vegetable Prices

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Food Markets & Prices Retailing & Wholesaling Food Service Industry Consumer and Producer Price Indexes Processing & Marketing

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