As summertime approaches, it may interest shoppers that U.S. farmers have received more than half of what consumers paid for fresh strawberries since 2020. In 2023, the average retail price for fresh strawberries was $3.80 per pound, a few cents less than in 2022, but about 52 cents more than in 2019 and 75 cents more than in 2014. Marketing costs, including payments to firms for packing, transporting, wholesaling, and retailing fresh strawberries, have been down since 2020.
However, farm level prices, which factor into retail prices, have been generally higher. In the farm share calculations, USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) estimates that about 8 percent of fresh strawberries is lost through spoilage and trimming, so it's assumed marketers buy about 1.09 pounds of fresh strawberries from farmers for each pound they sell at retail. Using this adjusted volume, the farm share of the retail price—the ratio of what farmers receive to what consumers pay per pound in grocery stores—was 53 percent in 2023. More information on ERS farm share data can be found in the Price Spreads from Farm to Consumer data product, updated February 27, 2024.
Source: ers.usda.gov