Name: Why the Bay Area’s grocery prices are still unusually high
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Why the Bay Area’s grocery prices are still unusually high

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigatePandemic lockdowns and business closures have forced Californians to cook at home more than ever, but shoppers have found unusually high prices when stocking up at the grocery store.The pandemic drove up demand for grocery items, and an increase in demand typically drives prices higher. The winter surge led to some of the toughest restrictions of the pandemic, including a renewed stay-at-home order and the shuttering of outdoor dining.The Bay Area, especially, has often established stricter safety protocols during the pandemic, so it’s not too surprising that the have remained very high, especially when compared to Los Angeles and the U.S., according to the latest Consumer Price Index figures for February 2020 from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.We looked at the CPI percentage change for different grocery categories year-over-year from the start of the pandemic to February 2021 for the San Francisco area, defined by the agency as Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.In February 2021, prices in the “food at home” category in the San Francisco area went up an estimated 6.7% compared with the same time last year. Grocery prices also increased in other areas. The year-over-year percentage change in February was 3.9% in the Los Angeles area and 3.5% for the U.S. average, significantly lower than in the Bay Area.“All of this relates to what was happening in this pandemic time,” said Todd H. Johnson, economist for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “The scarcity of some of these things, and supply is down in many cases, so the price does bump up.”Prices in the San Francisco area soared highest in the meat, poultry, fish and eggs category, up 16.2% year-over-year in February. In February 2020, the year-over-year percentage increase in prices was just 5.2%, but in April 2020, after the pandemic began, it shot up to 14.5%, peaking last June at 19.4%. Throughout the pandemic, the year-over-year increase measured every two months has never dropped below 14% in that category. (The agency tracks percentages for the overall categories monthly, and the subcategories every other month.)Los Angeles and the U.S. average saw their highest percentage change in the meat, poultry, fish and eggs category for the 12 months ending in June 2020, both hitting double digits at 10.1% for Los Angeles and 12.8% for the U.S. But the percentage changes during the rest of the pandemic were much lower compared with San Francisco, most recently increasing by 6.9% in Los Angeles and 5.2% in the U.S. year-over-year in February 2021.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.Fruits and vegetables also saw some of the biggest year-over-year increases in the Bay Area in December 2020 and February 2021, at 12.2% and 10%, respectively. The price increases in Los Angeles and the U.S. were much less dramatic. Prices for cereal and bakery products also rose more in the Bay Area than in the U.S. overall, though the price increase was similar for dairy products.Other interesting findings from the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco area during the 12-month period ending in February 2021 show a 10.9% decrease in the cost of apparel, a 7.1% increase in prices of household furnishings, and an 8.8% increase in used car prices. Gasoline prices plummeted throughout the pandemic, plunging 31% year-over-year last May. Now, they are finally rebounding, up 1% year-over-year in February.Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter: Nami Sumida is a San Francisco Chronicle data visualization developer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigatePandemic lockdowns and business closures have forced Californians to cook at home more than ever, but shoppers have found unusually high prices when stocking up at the grocery store.The pandemic drove up demand for grocery items, and an increase in demand typically drives prices higher. The winter surge led to some of the toughest restrictions of the pandemic, including a renewed stay-at-home order and the shuttering of outdoor dining.The Bay Area, especially, has often established stricter safety protocols during the pandemic, so...

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Kellie Hwang

Nami Sumida

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Why the Bay Area’s grocery prices are still unusually high

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