By Patrick Thomas, David Uberti and Elizaveta Galkina
While commodities such as beef and eggs have long been volatile, others such as coffee have jumped in price more recently. Disease and severe weather in growing regions around the world have pushed up orange juice futures contracts to record levels, counteracting a market slump in crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat over the past year.
Average prices for food at home rose in November by the largest annual pace in a year.
Continued pressure on breakfast staples and other foods would hamper President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to bring down what Americans spend on groceries, highlighting how unpredictable market conditions can hinder policy aims.
Trump also has pledged to impose tariffs on goods from top U.S. trading partners including Mexico, Canada and China, a plan that could further roil food-commodity markets.
The deadliest outbreak of avian flu on record has hit the egg industry hard, reducing the domestic flock of laying hens by 3%, or about 10 million hens, in December compared with the year-earlier month, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
As supplies tightened, food manufacturers and grocery stores stocked up for the egg-intensive holiday season, fueling record prices.
Kroger Chief Executive Rodney McMullen said in a December interview that egg prices could ease in the coming months “assuming that we don’t have another bird flu outbreak.”
Beef – $15.09 per pound. sirloin – up 16.7% from 2023
Beef prices have been rising, largely because ranchers have shrunk cattle herds in response to years of persistent drought conditions that have burned up pasture. Retail ground beef prices are roughly 20% higher since the start of 2023, according to the Labor Department.
Steady demand and limited supply are keeping prices elevated. Meatpackers say consumers continue to buy beef while rising labor and equipment costs are deterring ranchers from rebuilding herds.
When ranchers do start to rebuild, it is a slow process: It takes roughly 18 months to 22 months to raise beef cattle to market weight.
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