How Food Prices Will Influence Watch Party Foods

Expect plenty of in-home parties this year as interest and anticipation build for the big game, which pits the San Francisco 49ers against the Kansas City Chiefs this year. 

Given relatively high employment and wage growth in the U.S., spending on watch parties will likely be robust.

While at-home food prices are up 1.3%, fluctuating costs in different categories of foods may present some opportunities to save and could affect the types of meats, chips, dips, and sodas offered at hosted watch parties. 

"There is good news on the food side. If you do this in your house, it will be more affordable in a real sense. It's not cheaper than a year ago, but it's more affordable when you think about earnings and employment," Wells Fargo chief agricultural economist Michael Swanson told CBS MoneyWatch.

For example, according to a Wells Fargo report on food costs across categories, fresh chicken wings, a perennially popular choice, are down 5% at an average price of $ 3.26 per compared to January 2023. Frozen wings, which are down 11%, offer even deeper savings.