Food System Economy

Total retail food sales increased by 15.1% from 2017 ($8.7 billion) to 2022 ($10.0 billion).

Grocery stores, warehouse clubs, and full-service and limited-service restaurants account for 80% of retail food sales. Note that direct sales—from farmer to consumer via farmstands, CSAs, and farmers markets—accounted for 0.1% of total retail food sales.

Animal slaughtering and processing accounted for about 30% of food and beverage manufacturing sales, followed by “other food manufacturing,” a catchall category that covers all kinds of snacks and processed food, and bakeries.

Total employment in Rhode Island increased 9.2% from 2002 (531,849) to 2023 (580,569). Food system jobs account for about 12.2% (70,774) of all jobs in Rhode Island. This is likely an undercount because we are unable to specify all possible food system jobs (e.g., “general freight trucking” accounts for over 1,500 jobs in Rhode Island. However, although all food ultimately moves via transportation, we can’t delineate trucking jobs that are exclusively for food distribution).

Food services and drinking places—all types of restaurants, caterers, bars, and vending machine operators—account for 65.5% of food system jobs in Rhode Island. Jobs in this category increased from 37,485 in 2002, to 46,389 in 2023. Data for snack and nonalcoholic beverage bars (e.g., coffee shops) was missing in 2019, 2022, and 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted food service workers in 2020. From 2018 to 2020, over 10,000 Rhode Island food service workers, particularly at full-service restaurants, lost their jobs. Employment subsequently increased in 2022 as COVID restrictions have been removed.

The number of food service businesses in Rhode Island increased from 3,223 in 2002, to 4,289 in 2023.

Food and beverage manufacturing employment steadily increased from 3,928 in 2002, to 4,954 in 2023. Food and beverage manufacturing jobs are generally desirable because they tend to pay more than retail food jobs. Manufactured local food products, like Tilted Barn Brewery or Brickley’s Ice Cream, also contribute to the brand recognition of the state. The number of food and beverage manufacturing businesses in Rhode Island increased from 259 in 2002, to 417in 2023.

Estimating food production employment and businesses is challenging. The Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years, identifies the number of farms, producers, and hired farm workers. The New England Field Office of the USDA National Statistics Service supplies estimated values for the intervening years. It is also the case that most Rhode Island farmers have another job that contributes to household income. Employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the various state departments of labor is available every year, but it rarely captures employment information for businesses without a payroll. This means that most, but not all, farm and fishing businesses are not included in their employment estimates. Nonemployer data for businesses with no employees is also available every year, and this is where our best guess for fishery employment and businesses come from.

Taken together, available data sources suggest that more than 4,000 people are employed in food production (over 1,900 in fishing and support activities, and more than 3,000 as farmers and hired farm workers). And there are more than 2,200 food production businesses, including farms and fishing operations.

Rhode Island had the fifth highest per capita food expenditures ($5,776) of any state in the country in 2020, but ranked 14th in 2023. The annual growth rate for median household incomes in Rhode Island from 1997 to 2023 was 0.7%, while the annual growth rate for food expenditures was 2.6%.