Datasembly’s new Grocery Price Index records “dramatic change” in US grocery price inflation rate

01 Nov 2021 --- Datasembly has launched its Grocery Price Index, which brands, retailers and consumers can use to uncover current, hyper-local pricing information and trends in real-time. Featured food products include candy, dairy, eggs, meat, seafood, snacks and cereal. 

The index provides a comprehensive overview of grocery inflation trends spanning across a number of US markets, with New York, Philadelphia, Tampa, Detroit and Portland showing some of the largest recent increases within a few key grocery categories.

“Datasembly collects publicly available product information from the web,” Ben Reich, Datasembly founder and CEO, tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“It simulates a human user navigating a retailer’s website or mobile app picking an individual store location and browsing every item in every aisle, collecting price, promotion and assortment for each item at every location.”

Retail data at a granular level
The free tool is a culmination of the billions of pricing and product records that Datasembly collects daily from over 130,000 stores and more than 180 retail banners across the US.

Datasembly collects daily from over 130,000 stores and more than 180 retail banners across the US. (Credit: Datasembly)It can be localized to see trends in 54 of the largest major metropolitan areas in the country, as well as by state.

“The pandemic brought an unprecedented amount of price volatility into the market, and now we are seeing a significant price inflation trend accelerating in Q3 of 2021 – making the need for real-time competitive pricing intelligence more important than ever,” highlights Reich.

“The granular level of data about specific products and locations that Datasembly provides is a game-changer for brands and retailers, helping them better understand pricing strategies, promotions, and assortment.”

Grocery price index findings
According to the Grocery Price Index, there has been a dramatic change in the rate of grocery price inflation in the US, starting in Q1 with an average monthly increase of 0.43%, to Q3 where the average monthly increase has nearly doubled to 0.83%. 

September, by far, has had the highest rate of monthly increase of the year at 1.18%. The Q3 increases alone surpass the USDA 20 year annual average.

The overall price increase in Q3 was 2.28%, which was propelled by increases in:

• Beverages – 3.6% (caused by a 7% increase in the soda subcategory)
• Meat & Seafoods – 4.2% (caused by the bacon and sausage subcategories increasing 7% and 5%, respectively)
• Snacks, Cookies & Chips – 3.68% (caused by the chips subcategory increasing by 7%)

The Datasembly Grocery Price Index will be updated every week.

In parts of Florida, prices of Meat & Seafood saw some of the highest increases during the period, rising 6.7% in Tampa and 6.4% in Orlando.Local price inflation trends for Q3
Cities like New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Orlando, Tampa, Portland and Seattle suffered the biggest price increases in Q3 2021. 

In parts of Florida, prices of Meat & Seafood saw some of the highest increases during the period, rising 6.7% in Tampa and 6.4% in Orlando.

Starting from April 2021, prices of Meat & Seafood began rising again and in September 2021, are back to COVID-19 highs. Prices have steadily increased in Detroit as well, going up to 6.2%.

Prices of Snacks, Cookies & Chips also increased at least 5% across markets – Detroit (5.6%), Orlando (5.2%) and Tampa (5.8%). 

Beverages saw a big increase, with prices rising by 5.5% in Portland and 5% in Seattle.

In Philadelphia, the price of Deli goods shot up 5.4% but nationally, the price index for Deli hardly changed at all. In New York, Deli prices saw a sharp increase of 5.1%.

COVID-19 trends
The grocery industry has always been very competitive, but the pandemic has “supercharged the competition,” Reich notes.

“The need for holistic and real time access to local product market pricing positions has become mission critical for both CPG and retailers,” he continues.

“The traditional 12-week lag and manual data collection methods previously used, has drastically limited their ability to compete. Datasembly’s real-time, hyper-local, granular data solves this problem and has become more important than ever.”

During the pandemic period, baking was on the rise as more consumers stayed home and focused their attention on taking on new hobbies. Baking goods saw a steady increase of 2.5% before dropping back down another 2% in September 2020. 

Baking is seeing a rapid rise again with a steady increase starting at the end of June 2021.

The meat and seafood category crept up in the beginning of March 2020 and went up a full 3% in May/June and went back down 2% in September. Starting at the end of May 2021, this category is seeing steady increases again.

By Benjamin Ferrer