Food prices are on the rise again. What’s behind the increase

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, a grocery store here was plumb out of eggs.

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.