Food price inflation slows, ‘but the damage has been done’

Oct 26

Recent surges don’t account for long-term challenges as costs steadily creep

By Forrest J.H.

Nearly everything is getting more expensive and staying that way.

Between August and September, food prices largely stayed level, but are about 2.5 percent higher than this time last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The price of bread, rice, bananas and tomatoes increased over the month, while milk and beef ticked down, and flour and eggs did not budge.

A pound of rice now sits at an all-time high of $1.12, up six cents over the past year. That is especially notable since the cost of rice has historically been very stable.

Volatile tomatoes grew slightly costlier over the month, landing at $1.99 per pound in September. The produce often fluctuates with seasons and weather, but they are down from an annual high of $2.69 per pound in April, when the US ended duty-free tomato imports from the country’s biggest supplier, Mexico. The trend symbolizes much broader impacts, including the skyrocketing cost of gas needed to move products, driven by prolonged international conflict around oil-rich areas.

“[It’s] a perfect storm of trade policy, extreme weather and Mideast policy,” economist Usha Haley told the Associated Press.

The cost of beef is a similar story. At an average of $9.24 per pound, it is down from this summer’s all-time high prices, but is still shockingly expensive.

At $2.27 per dozen, eggs are also cheaper since earlier this year, but the price has been rapidly crashing since a devastating bird flu outbreak. That may come as a relief to some, but grocery shoppers will not likely see much of a difference once they reach the check-out line.

"The damage has been done," agribusiness professor Ricky Volpe told NPR. "Any inflation that happens now in the grocery store is on top of these already very high prices, and consumers are very sensitive to that.”

Consumers aren’t the only ones.

PepsiCo announced plans to raise prices on some snack and drink items in October as it deals with rising fuel and packaging costs alongside disappointing revenue. Fans of Doritos, Ruffles, SunChips and Pepsi brand sodas will likely take notice and choose something more affordable.

“People are having to skimp on something,” economist Heather Long told CNN. “For a lot of Americans, that’s the grocery store… they trade down to the store brands, eat a little less meat in order to have enough money to pay all their bills.”

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THIS ARTICLE’S INGREDIENTS

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Consumer Price Index news release

October 14, 2026

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

Associated Press

Tomatoes become latest symbol of America’s affordability squeeze

By Matt Sedensky

May 29, 2026

https://apnews.com/article/tomatoes-inflation-prices-groceries-mexico-tariffs-trump-1176fd9d4213f2b568181809937c2170

NPR