Foodservice Packaging & Commodity Price Index
Monthly averages for the cost drivers behind foodservice distribution in the Southeast US, computed from our continuous live-API tracking of EIA diesel, USDA boxed beef, ICE sugar, and CBOT soybean oil. Updated daily; free to cite with attribution. Last generated October 18, 2026.
In October 2026, Lower Atlantic diesel averaged $5.76/gal (+0.1% vs September 2026), USDA Choice boxed beef averaged $375.30/cwt (-0.5%), raw sugar averaged 20.44¢/lb (+10.9%), and soybean oil averaged $0.679/lb (-1.9%).
| Month | Diesel $/gal | Beef Choice $/cwt | Beef Select $/cwt | Raw Sugar ¢/lb | Refined Sugar ¢/lb | Soybean Oil $/lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 5.760 | 375.30 | 354.92 | 20.44 | 41.47 | 0.6794 |
| September 2026 | 5.755 | 377.29 | 355.61 | 18.43 | 38.20 | 0.6923 |
| August 2026 | 5.199 | 376.67 | 356.96 | 16.84 | 37.22 | 0.6880 |
| July 2026 | 4.794 | 373.93 | 357.60 | 14.81 | 35.90 | 0.6960 |
| June 2026 | 4.896 | 392.22 | 375.56 | 14.12 | 35.50 | 0.7249 |
Monthly simple averages of intraday snapshots. Series begins June 2026, the first full month after all upstream feeds went live; a row is added each month.
Methodology and sources
- Diesel: EIA weekly retail on-highway diesel, Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C).
- Boxed beef: USDA AMS boxed beef cutout, Choice and Select (LM_XB403).
- Sugar: ICE Sugar No. 11 (raw) and No. 16 (refined) front-month futures.
- Soybean oil: CBOT soybean oil front-month futures.
- Snapshots are captured whenever our live market dashboard refreshes (multiple times daily); monthly figures are simple averages of all snapshots in the calendar month.
Citing this index
This data is free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Cite as: "Value Source Foodservice Packaging & Commodity Price Index, valuesource.co/packaging-price-index/". For how these inputs flow through to case prices, see our 2026 wholesale case-price benchmarks and the Section 301 tariff guide.