US grocery prices soared in April — but gas spikes – Business News
Americans paid more for his or her groceries final month, but high gasoline prices ensuing from the Iran struggle have been just one of the the reason why.
Prices for food eaten at home rose 2.9% in April in comparison with the identical month a yr earlier, in accordance with authorities figures launched Tuesday. That was the highest year-over-year inflation fee for the class since August 2023.
Prices at eating places, fast-food chains and different locations to get ready meals additionally elevated, placing general food prices up 3.2% in the final yr, the Labor Department’s shopper price index confirmed.
People store in the produce part of a grocery store on May 11, 2026, in Portland, Oregon. AP
A basic view of $4.55 and $4.67 common gas prices as seen at a Shell gas station in Hackensack, New Jersey, on May 8, 2026. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post
The price of garlic is seen in the produce part of a grocery store on May 11, 2026, in Portland, Oregon. AP
Fuel prices have soared whereas the Iran struggle prevents cargo ships from passing by the Strait of Hormuz, a important hall for world oil provides.
Diesel fuel powers fishing boats, tractors and the vehicles that ship 83% of US agricultural merchandise. As of Tuesday, the average price per gallon was up 61% from a yr in the past, in accordance with AAA.
The meat, produce and dry items distributors that offer Sparrow Market, a small impartial grocer in Ann Arbor, Michigan, all added fuel surcharges to their deliveries in current weeks, proprietor Raymond Campise stated.
Red meat is displayed at a grocery store in Brooklyn, New York City, on May 12, 2026. Getty Images
Fresh fish are seen at a grocery store on May 11, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee. AP
Wholesale prices for meat, produce and another merchandise even have gone up, he stated.
“For independent markets operating on narrow margins, even small increases can have a major impact,” Campise stated.
The full impression of rising power prices on food seemingly has not hit retail grocery prices but in the US, in accordance with Purdue University economists Ken Foster and Bernhard Dalheimer.
Higher prices to provide, course of, store and transport food can take three to 6 months to show up on grocery store cabinets, the place prices usually fall slowly as soon as elevated, they stated.
“Most of what we’re seeing now in the food price chain probably predates the conflict,” Foster, a professor of agricultural economics, stated. “
We’re cautiously ready to see what the June numbers and the May numbers may show as they arrive out in phrases of … the extent to which power shocks in the Strait of Hormuz and delivery blockades and so forth are going to impression food prices.”
People benefit from the seaside as a vessel is seen ready to cross the Strait of Hormuz in the Arabian Sea off Muscat, Oman, on May 12, 2026. Ismael Mohamad/UPI/Shutterstock
The shopper price index measures modifications in what people in US cities paid at retail shops for meat, bread, milk, produce and different grocery staples.
Over the final 20 years, grocery prices elevated an average of 2.6%, in accordance with the US Department of Agriculture.
Prices for perishable and refrigerated merchandise are likely to increase quicker than prices for packaged items when power is an difficulty.
A employee stacks groceries at a store in Brooklyn, New York City, on May 12, 2026. Getty Images
Fresh oranges and different fruits are seen at a grocery store on May 11, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee. AP
Consumers paid 6.5% more for recent fruit and greens in US cities final month than they did in April 2025, and eight.8% more for meat, the Labor Department reported.
But US commerce insurance policies and excessive climate even have weighed on US food prices in the final yr. In July 2025, the Trump administration imposed a 17% responsibility on recent tomatoes imported from Mexico; shopper prices rose 40% in the 12 months earlier than April.
Dry climate in the Western US has been one of many components pushing up beef prices, which in April have been 15% increased year-over-year.
Lemons are displayed for sale at an H-E-B grocery store on May 11, 2026, in Austin, Texas. Getty Images
Coffee prices have been up 18.5%, partly because of drought and different climate situations which have damage world espresso manufacturing in current years.
“Today’s CPI showed that food prices have been rising 3.2 percent in the past year, but the story behind that number is more complicated than just an energy shock,” stated Dalheimer, an assistant professor of macroeconomics and commerce in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics.
Prices for some meals remained more or much less flat or declined over 12 months. Milk and chicken dipped barely. Butter value 5.8% much less in April than it did a yr earlier.
Start your day with all you need to know
Morning Report delivers the newest information, videos, pictures and more.
Thanks for signing up!
Egg prices fell 39% as farmers rebuilt flocks that have been decimated by an ongoing chook flu outbreak.
Food prices and broader inflation are prone to characteristic prominently in November’s midterm elections. During his 2024 marketing campaign, President Donald Trump typically cited the prices of bacon, cereal, crackers and different groceries as the reason why voters ought to return him to the White House.
Some food producers say they’re struggling now as a result of of increased fuel prices. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents shrimpers in eight states, stated some boats haven’t left the dock this spring as a result of they will’t catch enough shrimp to compensate for the value of diesel.
Gas prices at a Chicago station have surged sharply, with common unleaded reaching $5.79 per gallon and Supreme+ hitting $6.79, on April 30, 2026. Anadolu through Getty Images
Fuel usually makes up 30% to 50% of the prices for US shrimpers, but as a result of they provide solely 6% of the shrimp that Americans devour, they’ve restricted means to raise prices or add surcharges for fuel, the group stated.
Higher fuel prices may additionally be impacting food prices in different methods. Part of April’s 5% annual increase in prices for nonalcoholic drinks could also be due to the petroleum by-product that goes into making plastic bottles, Foster stated.
“It’s possible some of that’s starting to seep down the supply chain and get into those prices,” he stated.
Fresh Brussels sprouts and produce are seen at a grocery store on May 11, 2026, in Nashville, Tennessee. AP
Over the subsequent yr or more, Americans might additionally see increased food prices because of spiking fertilizer prices, since round 30% of the world’s fertilizer travels by the Strait of Hormuz.
Fertilizer prices are much less of an difficulty for US farmers this yr, since many already had fertilizer provides in place earlier than the struggle started, in accordance with Foster. But the consequences might change into more noticeable subsequent yr if the struggle drags on, he stated.
“I expect the Iran conflict to impact the coming years’ food prices through a couple of channels. One, the energy costs and transportation handling. The other would be through packaging costs,” Foster stated.
“If the conflict were to last longer, then we might see more coming online as fertilizer prices start to impact longer-term planting decisions and cropping decisions.”
