Consumers see food prices as rising more than other goods and services, find ways to adapt

The May CFI survey asked consumers to report their experiences and responses to rising food prices over the last 12 months. “It’s possible the high frequency with which we shop for food could make higher food prices more salient to consumers. The April consumer price index measure of food price inflation — the most recent available — remained unchanged from March at 2.2%. “Consumers’ inflation estimates continue to hover around 6%, showing that the dramatic increase in food inflation in previous years may still be affecting consumer food price sentiment. “We also observe older consumers report eating unwashed produce, raw dough and rare meat less frequently than younger consumers,” he said.