Americans are shelling out more for oyster happy hours.
Experts say the buck-an-oyster deal of yore is all but dead, with some noting restaurants have hiked prices as high as $2.50 apiece.
Oyster happy hours are just the latest piece of American life that’s gotten more expensive as prices have muscled higher in recent years. While the US Federal Reserve has made progress in beating back the rate of price increases, inflation has remained stubbornly above target, and Americans have been paying more for everything from groceries to rent to, yes, hanging out at their neighborhood bar for an oyster deal with friends.
Wholesale oyster prices soared to triple digit highs in 2022 and only began coming down late last year. But general inflation forced retailers to raise store prices to avoid losses on their excess oyster stock, even as sales and wholesale costs trended downwards, according to Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute’s most recent report.
In decades past, oysters were plentiful and (relatively) cheap — a good combination for bar food.
“Historically, Americans would consume a lot