Perishable Prepared Food Manufacturers NAICS 311991

Jul 30, 2025 - Dispose or Eat?

• Fear of spoilage can discourage consumers from buying and eating healthful packaged food, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a recent study – To Dispose or Eat? The Impact of Perceived Healthiness on Consumption Decisions for About-to-Expire Foods – published in the Journal of Marketing. That’s because consumers worry that healthy food expires more quickly than other foods. The survey found that packaged food perceived as the healthiest was ranked as the first to expire by the more than 3,500 consumers in North America, South Korea, and the UK surveyed by researchers. How food is labeled has an impact on consumer behavior and can cause consumers to choose less-healthful alternatives or throw out items that haven’t actually spoiled. The study found shoppers were more likely to buy healthful packaged food if it had a label like “Consume By” versus a more ambiguous label like “Packaged On.”
• Grocery prices fell in April for the first time this year, posting their biggest drop since 2020, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The consumer price index (CPI) for food fell 0.1% in April as the food-at-home index decreased 0.4% and the food-away-from-home index rose 0.4% over the month. Five of the six major grocery store group indexes dropped, led by a 12.7% decrease in egg prices. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs declined 1.6% in April after recent increases. Nonalcoholic beverages was the only category that saw an increase, rising 0.7%. However, the impact of import tariffs has largely yet to be felt by shoppers, 57% of whom say they’re very or extremely concerned about tariffs and their potential impact on food costs, according to US Grocery Shopper Trends 2025 by FM.

• A new study has found widespread human exposure to thousands of chemicals used in food packaging, Food Manufacturing reports. The study, published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, identified over 3,600 chemicals used in food packaging and other food contact chemicals (FCCs) that have been found in human urine, blood, and breast milk and reveals significant gaps in biomonitoring and toxicity data. “Our research establishes a link between food contact chemicals, exposure, and human health,” said Dr. Birgit Geueke, adding, “It also highlights those chemicals that have been overlooked in biomonitoring studies so far.” FCCs include PFAS (aka “forever chemicals”), which are facing increased scrutiny and regulation. Food companies are beginning to adopt PFAS-free packaging alternatives (like clay-coated paper, biowax, bamboo, and seaweed-based materials) to reduce financial and reputational risks as regulations tighten, Food Industry Executive reports.
• Producer prices for perishable prepared food manufacturers fell 2.8% in June compared to a year ago, after rising 1.4% in the previous June-versus-June annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. By comparison, at retail the price of frozen and freeze dried prepared foods rose 1.9% year over year in June and 0.5% versus May, while the retail price of prepared salads was up 1.8% YoY in June but declined by 1.4% from May, according to the Consumer Price Index for June 2025. Employment by perishable prepared food manufacturers shrank 2.8% year over year in May, while the average industry wage at food manufacturers rose 3.1% YoY in June to $24.06 per hour, easing from its high in January, BLS data show.