As the holiday seasons approaches, families across the US are planning those all-important meals. But this year, the Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts could come with much steeper bills.

According to John Catsimatidis, CEO of the Gristedes supermarket chain in New York, food prices are going to increase "tremendously". He projects an increase of 10% over the last two months of 2021.

Why are food prices increasing?

Food prices are rising due to multiple factors. Worker shortages is one contributor, as are shipping delays.

It is not just luxury items that are rising in cost. According to USDA figures, shoppers in Philadelphia and Kansas City are now paying nearly $5 per gallon for milk. Across the country, the average price per gallon has risen by $0.11 in the past six months. Not a huge amount in isolation, perhaps. However, with the cost of other food having increased too, plus a further 10% hike likely, shoppers are increasingly feeling the pain.

Shortages are also having an impact, both on prices and consumers' morale. Milk, coffee and sugar have all been harder to get hold of recently. Not good news for those looking forward to their morning cup of joe.

Time to shop smarter

"With higher costs and reduced choice, meal planning and doing smart grocery shopping are more important than ever," observes Erik Wallin, Co-founder of Northfork.

Northfork's technology links with retailers to serve shoppable recipes to customers. It cuts out the frustration of shortages by serving up recipe suggestions linked to real-time stock availability. Customers can add all the ingredients in a single click/tap. Shopping by recipe can also help to reduce costs and waste, with the technology suggesting recipes that share ingredients.

"A 10% price rise will distress a lot of consumers," comments Wallin. "We're doing what we can to provide smarter ways to shop, to help minimise the impact of that increase."