Grilling Season 2025 officially kicks off this weekend, and Memorial Day cookouts will fill neighborhoods with the smell of hot charcoal and grilled meats. But how much will that outdoor feast cost this year? Rabobank has released its annual Barbecue Index, and Senior Consumer Foods Analyst Tom Bailey says inflation has taken this year’s prices to new highs.
“Last year, we sounded the alarm on this index. We said that the food price inflation was probably about as low as we’d get for the next year or so. This has certainly turned out to be the case. Last year’s barbecue prices rose by 2% compared to 2023 this year we’re looking at twice that. We’re up 4.2%.”
Bailey says there are a number of farm gate influencers at play.
“Inputs for farmers are up about 10% against the long run averages on a real basis. But we’re also still in the process of realigning global trade flows. The era of unburdened shipping is behind us for now. At least. We also are seeing regulatory costs associated with changing ingredients around Maha as one example, another factor that companies are looking at, some are already reformulating to phase out food guides. Labor costs also remain elevated nearly 1% above long-run averages.”
Rabobank calculates its Barbecue Index assuming each person at a party of 10 consumes one burger and one chicken sandwich, both with lettuce, tomato and cheese, some chips, two beers, a soda and ice cream. This year’s price reaches a new milestone.
“We’ve finally broken through the $100 barrier. This year, we’re at $103 and as I said, this is a 4.2% increase from last year. The biggest three contributors to the total price of this index, beer accounts for 27% of the price, beef accounts for 15% of the price, and then soda accounts for 11%, and chicken accounts for another 11% of the price.”
Bailey notes that tariffs only constitute one quarter of 1% of the cost of this all-American meal.