Dive Brief:
- Food-at-home prices rose in March at a 1.9% annual clip, a pace that was down markedly from the rate of increase recorded during the previous month, according to Consumer Price Index data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Grocery inflation lost momentum against a backdrop of higher across-the-board inflation, which leaped to 3.3% as gasoline prices roared ahead.
- Prices for perishable foods including coffee, tomatoes and beef rose by double digits in March, while prices for eggs plummeted.
Dive Insight:
Food-at-home inflation was down by half of a percentage point from the 2.4% level recorded last month, coming in below 2% for the first time since November 2025.
Prices for beef and veal were up more than 12% last month, continuing a string of powerful inflation for the category. The rate was below the level recorded in February, however. Inflation for uncooked beef steaks clocked in more than 15% last month, while pork prices were up by less than 1%.
Fresh vegetable prices also surged in March, as lettuce was up by almost 14% and tomatoes saw prices rise by more than 22%. Coffee prices increased almost 20%, with prices for instant coffee up by approximately 25%.
Some food categories saw price declines in March. Fresh whole milk prices were down almost 3%, prices for cheese and related products declined by just under 2% and potato prices fell 4.4%. Prices were down almost 3% for fresh whole milk, just under 2% for cheese and related products and roughly 4% for potatoes. Egg prices were off by almost 45% year over year in March — the steepest decline among the food categories the BLS tracks in its inflation reports.
Grocery inflation was down last month even as the oil supply constraints brought on by the Iran war pushed fuel prices ahead at breakneck speed. Gasoline prices were up by more than 21% in March and drove almost three quarters of the increase in overall inflation, which was up by almost a full percentage point compared with February.
