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On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, a grocery store here was plumb out of eggs.
An hour and a half north in Richfield, some eggs could be had, but they weren’t cheap. That dozen cost $1.70 more — a good 40% higher — than it did just four months ago.
In November, egg prices shot up by 8.2% nationwide, logging one of the highest monthly spikes in the past two decades, according to Consumer Price Index data released last week. And it’s not just eggs — shoppers have seen jumps in beef, coffee and non-alcoholic beverages, driving up overall grocery prices to their largest monthly gain since January 2023.
And more increases appear to be coming down the pike for the pulped-paper-packed protein: Wholesale prices for chicken eggs soared by nearly 55% last month, and wholesale food prices rose by 3.1% (their highest monthly increase in two years).
Economists say not to panic. The “egg-flation” and sudden price hikes in some major food categories are reflections of isolated incidents rather than something systemic and indicative of a reacceleration of inflation.
That doesn’t make it any easier to stomach, however, for Americans worn down by years of prices rising much faster than they typically do.
But while seemingly outliers, these price increases add another layer of costs to products that have become significantly more expensive since before the pandemic.
“Overall grocery price inflation is relatively tame; it’s essentially in line with where it was before the pandemic … nothing alarming,” said Gregory Daco, EY Parthenon’s chief economist. “But prices relative to where they were before the pandemic remain very high.”
The once-in-a-generation bout of high inflation — although caused by a confluence of factors that emerged because of the pandemic, war in Ukraine and other events — weighed heavily on Americans and ultimately propelled former President Donald Trump back to the White House.
And that’s what’s happening here with eggs (and beef and coffee and orange juice).
“Inflation is what it is, but we’re seeing more dramatic increases in pockets of the food aisle, not necessarily overall,” said Billy Roberts, senior analyst for food and beverage at CoBank, a cooperative bank that serves agriculture businesses.
Eggs (+37.5% annually): y
A bird flu outbreak is ravaging flocks across the country, reducing the supply at a time when Americans are in festive moods and baking, cooking and dining out more.
The USDA in December further revised down US egg suppl
estimates and raised price forecasts for 2025.
Beef (+5% annually): US cattle inventory is at the lowest level in more than 70 years, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Driven by drought and other rising costs, the contraction is expected to continue through 2025 as dry conditions persist.
US beef cow herd expansion is not expected to start until 2026 or 2027, according to a CoBank report released last week.
Orange juice (frozen juices +17.2% annually; fresh juices 3.1% annually): Frozen non-carbonated juices tell the starkest tale for a beverage category that was walloped by hurricanes, bad weather and a citrus disease. And the future may be looking even bleaker for orange juice as Brazil — which supplies about 30% of America’s imported OJ — had its worst harvest in decades because of flooding, drought and citrus greening disease.
“I think these increases [in orange juice prices] are not necessarily going to be temporary,” CoBank’s Roberts said. “I think there’s going to be some supply issues underlying those price increases.”
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/food-prices-rise-again-behind-160042814.html
An hour and a half north in Richfield, some eggs could be had, but they weren’t cheap. That dozen cost $1.70 more — a good 40% higher — than it did just four months ago.
In November, egg prices shot up by 8.2% nationwide, logging one of the highest monthly spikes in the past two decades, according to Consumer Price Index data released last week. And it’s not just eggs — shoppers have seen jumps in beef, coffee and non-alcoholic beverages, driving up overall grocery prices to their largest monthly gain since January 2023.
And more increases appear to be coming down the pike for the pulped-paper-packed protein: Wholesale prices for chicken eggs soared by nearly 55% last month, and wholesale food prices rose by 3.1% (their highest monthly increase in two years).
Economists say not to panic. The “egg-flation” and sudden price hikes in some major food categories are reflections of isolated incidents rather than something systemic and indicative of a reacceleration of inflation.
That doesn’t make it any easier to stomach, however, for Americans worn down by years of prices rising much faster than they typically do.
But while seemingly outliers, these price increases add another layer of costs to products that have become significantly more expensive since before the pandemic.
“Overall grocery price inflation is relatively tame; it’s essentially in line with where it was before the pandemic … nothing alarming,” said Gregory Daco, EY Parthenon’s chief economist. “But prices relative to where they were before the pandemic remain very high.”
The once-in-a-generation bout of high inflation — although caused by a confluence of factors that emerged because of the pandemic, war in Ukraine and other events — weighed heavily on Americans and ultimately propelled former President Donald Trump back to the White House.
Dramatic increases in ‘pockets of the food aisles’
Even before “inflation” became a household word, food prices have long been subject to fluctuations as the result of weather events, crop yields, disease, war, supply chain snarls, spikes in demand or other temporary disruptions.And that’s what’s happening here with eggs (and beef and coffee and orange juice).
“Inflation is what it is, but we’re seeing more dramatic increases in pockets of the food aisle, not necessarily overall,” said Billy Roberts, senior analyst for food and beverage at CoBank, a cooperative bank that serves agriculture businesses.
Eggs (+37.5% annually): y
A bird flu outbreak is ravaging flocks across the country, reducing the supply at a time when Americans are in festive moods and baking, cooking and dining out more.
The USDA in December further revised down US egg suppl
estimates and raised price forecasts for 2025.
Beef (+5% annually): US cattle inventory is at the lowest level in more than 70 years, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Driven by drought and other rising costs, the contraction is expected to continue through 2025 as dry conditions persist.
US beef cow herd expansion is not expected to start until 2026 or 2027, according to a CoBank report released last week.
Orange juice (frozen juices +17.2% annually; fresh juices 3.1% annually): Frozen non-carbonated juices tell the starkest tale for a beverage category that was walloped by hurricanes, bad weather and a citrus disease. And the future may be looking even bleaker for orange juice as Brazil — which supplies about 30% of America’s imported OJ — had its worst harvest in decades because of flooding, drought and citrus greening disease.
“I think these increases [in orange juice prices] are not necessarily going to be temporary,” CoBank’s Roberts said. “I think there’s going to be some supply issues underlying those price increases.”
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/food-prices-rise-again-behind-160042814.html