Grocery price inflation in September matches high for the year

For the first time in over a year, inflation rose higher at the grocery store than at restaurants, according to the Consumer Price Index for September, which was released Thursday.

Overall, the food index increased 0.4% last month after rising just 0.1% in August. The food-at-home index (grocery) rose 0.4%, the highest since January when it was also 0.4%, while food-away-from-home prices increased 0.3%. Grocery prices were flat in August.

The CPI for All Urban Consumers increased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis, the same increase as in August and July.

“The latest CPI numbers demonstrate that taming inflation continues to be an uneven process,” said Andy Harig, vice president, Tax, Trade, Sustainability, and Policy Development for FMI — The Food Industry Association. “Food prices are driven by many factors and can be volatile…but we shouldn’t let a single month’s data obscure the very real progress that has been made addressing food price inflation — on a year-over-year basis, food-at-home inflation came in at 1.3%, a very strong showing.”

Some retailers, however, are cutting the price of food. In late September, Giant Eagle announced a 20% average price reduction on more than 200 produce items, a measure that is costing the grocer $25 million.

Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes rose in September. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs jumped 0.8%, and the index just for eggs spiked 8.4%. After a 0.2% price drop in August, the fruits and vegetables index rose 0.9% in September. The index for other food at home went up 0.2%, and cereals and bakery products increased 0.3%. The dairy and related products index increased 0.1% over the month while the nonalcoholic beverages index was unchanged.

The meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index rose 3.9% over the last 12 months, while nonalcoholic beverages went up 1.3%. Fruits and vegetables increased 0.7% over the same time period. Dairy and related products rose 0.5%, and the cereals and bakery products index increased 0.1%.