With Inflation for food prices hitting as high as 8.2% in New York City, we look into the prices of basic food essentials and a necessary nourishment - Eggs, Bread and Milk, available at groceries near Columbia University differs from the rest of the places.
by Vivek Patil | February 5, 2023 |Github
This is a project for my Data Studio Class and the prompt given was “Something you miss from home”. While I do get nostalgic thinking about home, my mind was riddled with insane grocery prices in this city. It absolutely frustrated me how a slice of white bread can cost so much! Is there a world where you can justify these prices with all the mass manufacturing, robotic automation and decent supply chain this city offers?
For this project, I scraped four big chain grocery stores around Columbia University campus - Morton Williams (2941 Broadway) , Westside Market NYC (2840 Broadway), C-Town on 125th st and Foodtown market on 1316 Amsterdam Ave. I scraped for their prices for Eggs, Bread and Milk listed on the Instacart Website. read my complete methodology on my github.
I made this project personal by adding what I used to pay before in my hometown Pune as well, which has a population of over 7.4 million people with a somewhat satisfactory supply chain.
With the Bird flu outbreak straining the poultry supply across the U.S, the cost of eggs per dozen rose from $2 in February 2022 to $4.2 in December 2022, according to data from St Louis Federal Bank. As reported by Statesmen over debunking social media posts that egg prices rose by 600%, the real reason the prices to inflate was that by the end of December 2022, more than 43 million egg-laying hens were lost to avian influenza or to depopulation since the outbreak began in February 2022, according to the Department of Agriculture.
The prices are even more expensive in the neighborhoods around Columbia University as one should expect to pay around $7-$8 for a Dozen of Large Grade A eggs.
The average price across the US for white bread per lb stands at around $1.8 as of December 2022 according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. For the same white bread, in New York City, the average stands at $3.87, according to the Cost of living in New York by Numbeo. The groceries around Columbia University charge on an average around $4 dollars for the same packet of white bread.
Amid fluctuating supply of dairy products, many companies have raised their prices for regular milk. According to the report published by the Department of Agriculture, the retail price for organic whole milk in the U.S. for half a gallon(64 fl oz) stood at $4.8, while for New York, the average price is $5.18. According to my analysis, the average price for organic whole milk around the Columbia University campus stands at $8.3 for 64 fl oz.
C-town on 125th St is by far the cheapest for all three groceries in the neighborhood. On average, the prices for eggs, milk and bread are lower comparatively. Morton Williams on Broadway is the most expensive for eggs and bread. Milk is the most expensive at Westside Market.