Photo By Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
- Lunches are getting more expensive, according to new data from payments company Square.
- It’s been classified as “lunchflation,” a trend that affects office workers, among others.
- Inflationary prices for salad bowls and sandwiches are down to rising costs for restaurants.
Whether it’s a salad bowl, sandwich, or wrap, the price of your lunchtime meal is rising, according to new data published by payments company, Square.
This trend is known as “lunchflation” and it is affecting a large swathe of workers.
The data follows an analysis by Square of sales of popular lunchtime meals in the US over a two-year period, starting from March 1 2020 to March 1, 2022.
It broke down data about increased lunch costs in major cities including San Francisco, Austin, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, and Washington DC.
The study was conducted to “understand how much consumers can expect to pay post-pandemic” for their midday meals. It “reveals a new trend of ‘lunchflation,’ with lunch item costs rising faster than the average cost across all other items,” the company said.
Increased costs for restaurants have raised lunch prices as labor and ingredients have become more expensive, per Square.
According to the data, the average price of wraps increased by 13%, while the cost of sandwiches rose by 14%.
Taco prices have also escalated, with consumers paying 19% more. The price of salad bowls costs 11% more than it did two years ago, per Square.
“Restaurants have been among the hardest-hit businesses over the past few years, and now they’re facing rising costs across all parts of their business due to labor shortages and supply chain constraints,” said Bryan Solar, head of restaurants at Square.
Sweetgreen, an American salad chain told The Wall Street Journal it raised its menu prices by 6% in January, for example.
US inflation has been the strongest since February 1982, with the price hike affecting the cost of gas, food, and rent. The Consumer Price Index, a commonly watched measure of US inflation, surged 7.9% in the year through February 2022, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Restaurants in particular, including food chains like Subway, Starbucks, Shake Shack, and Wingstop have all put up menu prices as a result of increased operational costs, due to wage and commodity inflation.
The national labor shortage has meant restaurants have been upping their wages to attract more staff after a record number of workers in the sector quit during the pandemic because of the industry’s low wages, lack of benefits, and poor working conditions.
It is accompanied by supply chain shortages that plagued the US economy, driving up the price of key commodities. Major droughts in countries like Brazil and Argentina also hiked the prices for corn, coffee, and soybeans.
Insider’s Ben Winck and Madison Hoff reported that even when inflation cools off, a sticker form of inflation could persist.
Recent world events have not made inflation worries any better. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hit food and energy prices further as global supply chains were impacted by foreign sanctions. With economic sanctions levied on Russia, a major oil producer, by the US, prices for gas hit an average price-per-gallon of $4.065 at the beginning of March, for example.
Per The Wall Street Journal, inflated lunch prices can prevent workers from eating out with their colleagues, putting a strain on working relationships.
Mariah Hagan, a worker interviewed by the Journal, said she has had to say no to colleagues who have asked her to join them for lunch due to financial constraints.
“It’s been somewhat of a disappointment, because as food lunches have increased in price, our team lunches have decreased a little bit, so that’s changed how we can meet each other,” Hagan said.
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