February 13, 2025
Marketplace recently published an article featuring Jay Zagorsky, Clinical Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy, and Law discussing how the January Producer Price Index (PPI) showed significant drops in the prices of fruits and vegetables.
While the PPI showed a sharp drop in vegetable and fruit prices, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) revealed only a slight decrease in vegetables and an increase in fruit prices. Experts explain that the PPI reflects what producers receive, while the CPI tracks what consumers pay, which is influenced by factors like distribution costs, retailer pricing, and the volatility of food prices due to seasonality and weather.
“We get a lot of our foodstuffs from outside the United States. For example, avocados. Most of them come from Mexico. Grapes, especially now in the winter, are primarily coming from places like Chile,” Zagorsky adds.
The PPI only tracks U.S.-produced goods, while the CPI includes imported foods.
