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                                  <ul><li>The price of groceries is rising much slower than dining at a sit-down restaurant or fast food joint.</li><li>Grocery inflation has slowed way down: just over 2% year-over-year, compared to fast food at 6.2%.</li><li>Fast food is not cheap anymore, as many major chains are hiking prices this year.</li></ul><div data-acq-source="economyinlinesignup" data-component-type="inline-newsletter-module" data-event-label="insider_today" data-list="Insider Today" data-newsletter-id="1" id="formContainer">
                        
                        
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                        </div><p>Over the last few months, it's become clearer that buying groceries and cooking at home may once again be a better deal than <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inflation-cost-of-living-alcohol-coffee-going-out-more-expensive-2023-10" rel="" target="_blank">eating out</a>.</p><p>Since April, the year-over-year rate of <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2024-outlook-us-economy-stock-market-jobs-inflation-interest-rates-2023-11" rel="" target="_blank">inflation</a> for food at home has been lower than the inflation rate for full-service meals, such as at sit-down restaurants, and limited-service meals, meaning fast food. This is according to the <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm" rel="" target="_blank">Consumer Price Index</a>, which showed that between February 2022 and March 2023, inflation of prices for food at home — meaning groceries — was higher than at restaurants.</p><p><span></span><span><p>Food at home is still becoming <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-food-prices-inflation-gas-costs-groceries-restaurants-americans-economy-2023-12" rel="" target="_blank">more expensive</a> but at a much slower rate than food away from home. Food at home inflated at 2.1% year-over-year in October 2023, the lowest rate since June 2021. Meanwhile, full-service meals inflated at 4.3% year-over-year for October while limited-service meals was at nearly 6.2%.</p><p>The increase in food prices at restaurants stems in part from rising labor, real estate, and maintenance costs, in addition to businesses' elevated grocery bills.</p><p>This gap between food at home and food away from home has grown over the last few months, as they were all about equal in March of this year. Last August, food at home inflated at 13.5% year-over-year, well above full-service meals at 9% and limited-service meals at 7.2%.</p><p>Some groceries classified as food at home have <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-inflation-goods-durables-deflation-groceries-expensive-federal-reserve-cars-2023-12" rel="" target="_blank">inflated at rates similar</a> to eating out. Cereals and bakery products, particularly bread and cookies, inflated 4.2% year-over-year, while beef and veal is up 8.9% during the same period. Prices for dairy products though are coming down, while fruits and vegetables inflated at a modest 1.1%.</p><p>Food away from home, though, is up 5.4% year-over-year. Though not as important to the calculation as full-service and limited-service meals, food at employee sites and schools inflated at the same rate, while prices for food from vending machines and mobile vendors is up 14.9%.</p><p>Fast food has been inflating at a relatively constant pace of between 6% to 8% since January 2021. Many major fast food chains have <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-isnt-cheap-anymore-2023-11" rel="" target="_blank">raised prices</a> over the last few years — <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-price-loses-lower-income-customers-inflation-pressure-2023-10" rel="" target="_blank">McDonald's raised menu prices</a> by around 10% this year after a 10% bump last year, while Chipotle <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chipotle-mexican-grill-prices-are-rising-menu-increase-2023-10" rel="" target="_blank">hiked prices</a> five times since June 2021. Other chains including Pizza Hut and Subway have also increased prices for certain items.</p><p>Many Americans, particularly millennials and Gen Z, are increasingly <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cook-chef-manager-amusement-parks-gen-z-attendant-experience-economy2023-11" rel="" target="_blank">driving demand for experiences</a>, including at restaurants. Many are willing to pay the increasingly high prices for nice night out, though many wealthier Americans have been <a data-analytics-product-module="body_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/henrys-six-figure-income-inflation-layoffs-living-below-your-means-2023-10" rel="" target="_blank">cutting back on eating out</a> and investing more in grocery shopping.</p></span></p>
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