Food Prices Increase 0.3% in October: CPI Report

Food prices continued their upward trend during the month of October according to the most recent CPI report. Food prices went up 0.3%, following a 0.2% increase in September and the previous two months. 

Food at home

The index for food at home also rose 0.3% in October, after only rising 0.1% in September. Four of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased during the month. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs saw the largest increase at 0.7%. The index for cereals and bakery products saw a 0.2% increase in October after declining 0.4% in September. 

Price changes for the other major grocery store groups included:

• Dairy and related products: +0.3% (+0.1% in September)
• Other food at home: +0.3% (+0.3% in September)
• Fruits and vegetables: unchanged (unchanged in September) 
• Nonalcoholic beverages: -0.1% (unchanged in September)

The food at home index increased 2.1% over the last year. The index for cereals and bakery products saw the biggest increase at 4.2% during this time period. The index for dairy and related products decreased 0.4%, and all of the other indexes saw increases ranging from 0.4% (meat, poultry, fish, and egg) to 3.6% (other food at home).

Food away from home

The food away from home index once again rose 0.4% in October, as it did the previous month. The index for limited service meals rose 0.5%, and the index for full service meals rose 0.3%. Both of these indexes increased 0.4% in September.

The index for food away from home went up 5.4% during the past year. The index for full service meals rose 4.3%, and the index for limited service meals increased 6.2% during this time.