The Food With The Largest Price Increase Since 2020 May Not Surprise You

Few things, if any, appear to have gone according to plan since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020. When many of us emerged after months of lockdowns, not only did we discover that the supply chain problems that plagued us before the pandemic were still around, but that they would also be sticking around for the foreseeable future. The painful reality that we would have to live with these issues was confirmed in a new economic report released by The White House, which confirms that the effects of the pandemic, which have in turn triggered shipping delays, product shortages, and eye-watering inflation, are now part of our new normal — and will be for a while, per The New York Times.

The least pleasant part of this "new normal" is the gradual but persistent increase in the prices of basic goods from food staples and personal care items to gasoline and utilities. Inflation, which indicates how much your dollar can buy, is up by 8.5%, which means that the prices of basic goods are about 8.5% more expensive, on average, than they were a year ago, per Next Advisor. 

But an average is an average — which means that while everything has gotten more expensive, the price of some goods rose faster than others. Quartz did a study of different grocery prices and found — rather surprisingly perhaps — that rising costs are not uniform, and that the prices of some items have grown more quickly than others.

At the low end of the scale, where price increases were registered, but perhaps not felt as drastically, were potatoes, whose cost rose by .08%; cheese and associated products, which cost .19% more; tea, which rose .96%; tomatoes which became 1.06% more expensive, and ice cream, whose price rose by 1.11%.

But there were items on the other end of the scale, which registered price increase percentages in double digits. Ground beef prices rose nearly 13%; pork — including ribs and roasts, whose prices rose 14.22%; chops, which saw a 14.5% increase in price; bacon and breakfast sausages, whose prices spiked nearly 16%; and finally uncooked steaks — whose prices rose by 17.14%. The sharp rises prompted Atlanta couple Mike and Brit Miller to tell Next Advisor that "We haven't increased our grocery budget yet, but we are getting closer and closer to going over it."

With fruits and vegetables registering increases of no more than 5.5%, it could be time to cut down on your meat intake and adopt a flexitarian lifestyle — if you haven't already.