Food Prices Spiked Last Month

Donald Trump Vowed to Lower Prices. These Food Prices Spiked Last Month

Story by Claire Dickey

Despite President Donald Trump's campaign promise to reduce grocery prices, recent data indicates that the cost of some essential food items has continued to climb.

Food prices saw an upward trend this month, with several key grocery items experiencing noticeable increases. Rising costs for essentials like eggs, bread and ground beef are adding pressure to household budgets, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Which Foods Saw the Biggest Price Increases?

The price of groceries, gas, housing and other goods and services jumped 0.5 percent from December to January.

As of January, 2025, the BLS reported that food prices rose 2.5 percent year-over-year, Christopher D. Burns, vice president and assistant director of research at wealth management firm Greenleaf Trust, told Newsweek.

According to the BLS data, the following grocery items saw an average price increase from December 2024 to January 2025:

• Eggs: Up 19.4 percent month to month amid continued supply issues related to the ongoing bird flu outbreak.
• Coffee: Up 3.5 percent. Per The New York Times, shortages in coffee are tied to extreme weather conditions and spiking global demand.
• Bacon: Up 1.8 percent.
• Bananas: Up 0.97 percent.
• Bread: Up 0.67 percent.
• Flour: Up 2.3 percent.

Average food prices typically vary month to month, but there's been a stable price increase on eggs and bacon since November 2024, per the data.

Grocery prices are a worrying subject: NielsenIQ's mid-year consumer outlook report indicates that for the second year in a row, the top concern among consumers is rising food prices.

In an effort to curb that concern, Trump issued an executive order that looked to resolve the cost-of-living crisis, which includes the impact of grocery store prices.

Luis Cabral, a professor of economics at New York University said there are a variety of factors causing increasing food prices, which means spiking prices do not necessarily fall on the Trump administration.

"Many of these have been around for more than a month, so I am not sure one can properly blame the current administration for it," Cabral told Newsweek.

How Can Inflation and Trump's Trade Policies Impact Grocery Store Prices?

Inflation correlates with food prices. Thompson said that rising input costs, whether it's fertilizer or seeds, have become more expensive, and those increases are passed down to consumers.

"If we rely more on domestic labor for food production, wages will go up, which also gets factored into food prices," he said. "The burden of inflation doesn't just fall on suppliers—it's the consumer who feels it the most. And tariffs only make it worse."

Some economists caution that the imposition of tariffs on imported goods may inadvertently contribute to rising consumer prices. For instance, Trump's move to implement tariffs on steel and aluminum could increase production costs for food packaging, which are often passed on to consumers.

"Trump initially went big on tariff rhetoric, but in reality, not much changed in the grand scheme," Thompson said, pointing to changes implemented under the Biden administration.

Tariffs can be an issue for farmers: With less demand for U.S. exports, exports on agricultural products like corn, pork and soybeans are dropping. That shortfall often falls on consumers, Thompson said.

However, changes in trade policies since Trump's inauguration do not appear to have "a meaningful impact on food prices in the U.S. at this point," Burns said.

"The U.S. imports agricultural products from countries like Mexico, which have been discussed in tariff negotiations, but other factors appear to be a more significant influence of food prices currently."

Although Cabral said he doesn't believe the recent increase in food prices can be properly attributed to trade policy, they can have an impact long-term.

"To be clear, Trump's trade policies, if implemented, will have a significant upward impact on consumer prices. I expect the biggest effect will be on intermediate manufacturing products, but ultimately, we will all be hit with higher prices," Cabral said.