Nevada’s Ketchup Lovers Getting ‘Squeezed’ At Checkout

Did you notice that the cost of your Memorial Day Weekend barbeque cost a lot more than last year's? One of the reasons is that the price of ketchup has risen about 28% over the past year.

An article written by Danielle Wiener-Bronner on CNN.com reports: "A 32-ounce bottle of ketchup went from $4.08 on average the week of May 16, 2022, to $5.22 in the week of May 15, 2023, according to Datasembly, which measures weekly changes in grocery prices at over 150,000 US stores for its Grocery Price Index."

Per Wiener-Bronner's article, ketchup is not the only one of America's favorite condiments to see a big price increase. The average price of mustard is up about 13%. The average price of relish is up about 12% since last year's Memorial Day Weekend barbeque.

By now, we have all become accustomed to prices at the grocery store rising. But why has the cost of condiments risen so dramatically? Well, most experts point to the higher cost of ingredients, the higher cost of labor, and higher fuel prices contributing to what you saw at the checkout counter over the holiday weekend.

However, you probably did not see a huge increase in the prices of hamburger meat, hot dogs, and other proteins since last year. The CNN.com article points out that the price of hot dogs went up about 3% on average, and the price of 80/20 ground beef was relatively flat since last year at this time.

If you put the average barbeque menu together with hamburger buns, hot dog buns, ketchup, mustard, relish, hot dogs and hamburger meat, the overall cost of your holiday weekend feast went up about 9% since last year. Let's hope it doesn't go too much higher for the Independence Day barbeque you're planning. It seems like we have been "squeezed" enough at the checkout counter up to this point.

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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.