Development of the Food-at-Home Monthly Area Prices Data

The Food-at-Home Monthly Area Prices (F-MAP) data product provides detailed food price data to support a broad range of food economics research, supplementing existing public food price data. The data product contains monthly mean unit values and 6 price index measures for 90 food-at-home categories across 10 major metropolitan areas and 4 census regions. This report introduces the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) Food Purchase Groups (EFPGs) food classification system and describes the methods used to construct the F-MAP data product using weighted retail scanner data from 2016 to 2018. The F-MAP data product is modeled after the Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database (QFAHPD) previously published by USDA, ERS to report 1999–2010 food-at-home prices.