How much have food prices really gone up?

You can’t scroll through any news site without seeing at least one story about inflation, and often the focus is on food prices. One issue after another has hit different sectors of the food supply: cold weather, hot weather, drought, flood, war, bird flu – it seems the food sector just can’t catch a break. So how much have all of these events bumped up prices? In the last year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices have risen by an average of 3.1% in the US since February 2025.

This price increase is not evenly distributed across supermarket aisles. Every food product listed in BLS data had an increase, but the price jumps ranged from a meager 0.1% to more than 5% for some products. The area with the biggest increase was non-alcoholic beverages and beverage materials. This includes a product I consume daily: coffee, which was hit hard in recent years. Coffee prices shot up by 20% from 2024 to 2025. Ouch, says my pocketbook.

Cereals and bakery products also had a significant increase, rising 2.7% in the past year. A similar increase was lodged for fruits and vegetables. One area that seems to be less affected is dairy, which only saw a 0.1% rise. Meat, poultry, fish, and eggs as a whole have gone up in price just under half a percent, this despite a huge drop in the price of eggs. Supply chain issues related to avian flu have settled, but what this means is that other meats have gone up a lot more since egg prices are down.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there is immediate relief on the horizon. The US Department of Agriculture released a report predicting that some categories of food, including sugary foods and beef, will continue to see increases in the 5% range. (Price hikes hitting my doughnuts AND my coffee feels personal.) If fuel costs remain high, shipping costs will result in across the board increases. Let’s hope that better news arrives in the next few months.