Beef and coffee keep climbing, eggs swing, butter is falling. NPR explains what is behind the prices of five everyday foods.
Grocery prices have been unsettled since the pandemic, and a new NPR explainer looks at why five everyday items move the way they do. The short answer, according to NPR, is that each item has its own story, from weather and disease to tariffs and oversupply. All figures below are NPR's, which cites Bureau of Labor Statistics data for last month unless noted.
Prices still rising: beef and coffee
A pound of ground beef cost $6.79 last month, an 85% jump from a decade earlier. NPR attributes that to droughts that have hit US cattle herds, higher farm costs, and a shrinking number of cattle farms, leaving the smallest US herd in 75 years.
Coffee was 44% more expensive than two years ago. The US imports more than 99% of its coffee, and NPR says both drought and heavy rain in growing countries such as Brazil, Vietnam and Costa Rica have cut yields, while tariffs also played a part before some were scrapped last fall.
Swinging up and down: eggs
An average dozen eggs hit a record $6.23 in March of last year after a severe avian flu season, yet last month the typical price was $2.27. NPR says avian flu is the main driver, because outbreaks force farms to cull flocks and shrink supply. Tariffs on materials such as the cardboard used for cartons have added to costs.
Falling: butter
Butter bucked the trend. A pound averaged $3.96 in September, down 17.3% from a year earlier. NPR says demand is strong, but US production is higher still, as dairy farms grew their herds to produce more milk protein for products like Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, leading to a butter oversupply.
A mix of causes: cookies
Chocolate chip cookies reached a record $5.35 per pound in January, and last month they were 20 cents cheaper, which puts them at about $5.15. NPR points to flour costs raised by the war in Ukraine, record cocoa prices, and egg prices that depend on avian flu. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has also said baked goods stay expensive partly because of demand for pricier treats.
The bigger picture
NPR reports that overall grocery prices rose 11.4% in 2022 and have kept climbing since, though more slowly and roughly in line with general inflation. Ricky Volpe of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo told NPR that any new increase lands on top of already very high prices, which makes shoppers especially sensitive to it.
Picture credit: Data: NPR and Bureau of Labor Statistics; design by Savvy VibeZ
