In the months ahead, food costs are expected to increase on a number of grocery store items, according to a recent USDA report.
Shopping at the grocery store is expected to become even more expensive as food costs are predicted to increase in the months ahead, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
According to the report, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all food increased 1.0 percent from January 2022 to February 2022, and February food prices were 7.9% higher than in February 2021.
"All food prices are now predicted to increase between 4.5 and 5.5 %; food-away-from-home prices are predicted to increase between 5.5 and 6.5 %; and food-at-home prices are predicted to increase between 3.0 and 4.0 percent in 2022," reads a portion of the report.
The 2022 predicted price increases for farmed fruit ranged from 13-16% and 6-9% for vegetables.
In the months ahead, food costs are expected to increase on a number of grocery store items, according to a recent USDA report.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine could also factor into food pricing in the months ahead as Russia is one of the world's largest suppliers of wheat. Russia's trade restrictions and heavy sanctions from the West have also contributed to the price hikes, as noted in a recent Forbes report.
The USDA report forecasts wheat could increase by 20-23% and predicted wholesale wheat flour prices to jump between 12-15%.
The report also forecasted beef prices to increase between 13-16% for retail and between 4-7% for wholesale in 2022. Wholesale dairy was predicted to increase between 7-10%. The report also noted that February poultry prices saw a marked increase from February 2021, jumping 27% year over year.
An ongoing avian flu outbreak could also impact pricing at the grocery store, according to the report.
"Highly pathogenic avian influenza could either place upward pressure on poultry prices through decreased production or downward pressure through decreased access to international markets," reads a portion of the report. "Wholesale poultry prices are now predicted to increase between 9-12 % in 2022.