SAVANNAH, Ga. () — As Memorial Day arrives, marking the unofficial beginning of summer, many people plan to enjoy picnics or barbecues. However, you might wonder if the cost of your menu will affect your celebrations.
As with most things these days, there are both positive and negative aspects. Price hikes are evident in items like beef hotdogs, soda, baked beans, mustard, and chicken thighs.
Items showing price declines are ground beef burgers, hamburger and hotdog buns and American cheese slices.
Rabobank, a global food and agribusiness bank, says 95 percent of the ingredients of the average barbecue are American-sourced.
“Overall, Americans still allocate less of their budget to food than people in many other countries, though this disparity is narrowing universally,” noted Tom Bailey, a senior consumer foods analyst at Rabobank.
That means, for 2025, a 10-person barbecue is 4.21 percent more expensive this year than last.
