Restaurant menu prices rose 0.2% in January, according to new federal data released on Wednesday, continuing a period of easing inflation for an industry struggling to get customer count growth.
Menu price inflation last month was less than half the rate of the price hikes seen at grocery stores and other retailers. Food at home prices last month rose 0.5% compared with December, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To be sure, supermarket inflation remains much lower than restaurant menu price inflation when compared to a year ago.
Food at home prices over the past year were up 1.9%. At restaurants, prices were up 3.4%. Prices at both limited-service and full-service restaurants were up 3.3% over the past year.
But the data could suggest a shift in inflation back to grocery stores that at the very least could give consumers less reason to eat at home.
Restaurant menu prices rose at a much faster rate than grocers in late 2023 and for most of 2024, as operators fought higher labor and food costs and grocers kept prices largely frozen. Wide gaps in inflation between the two were cited as a key reason for weak restaurant traffic.
But restaurant operators in recent months have fought a value war to pull in customer counts.
Meanwhile, some grocery prices have been pressured more recently.
For instance, egg prices last month increased 15.2% compared with December. Over the past year, those prices are up 53%.
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