Food inflation rose 3.1% year over year in May, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While that remained below overall inflation of 4.2%, several food categories continued to post substantially larger increases, creating uneven cost pressures across the industry.
Coffee, beef, and fresh produce were among the biggest gainers, while eggs and dairy products moved sharply lower.
By the Numbers
Food Inflation
• Food inflation: +3.1%
• Food at home: +2.7%
• Food away from home: +3.5%
Largest Increases
• Tomatoes: +32.0%
• Lettuce: +24.9%
• Coffee: +17.5%
• Beef and veal: +12.9%
• Fresh vegetables: +11.9%
Largest Declines
• Eggs: -35.2%
• Cheese: -6.0%
• Dairy products: -1.0%
Coffee, Beef Remain Pressure Points
Coffee prices climbed 17.5% from a year earlier, making it one of the fastest rising food categories in the report. Beverage materials, including coffee and tea, increased 10.8%.
“The CPI print reflects cost pressures baked in months ago,” said Natalia Glushchenko, director of revenue growth management at Vibrant Ingredients. “For manufacturers and roasters, this creates real tension: retail prices just jumped 17.5%, but input costs are already easing.”
The impact extends well beyond coffee shops. Convenience stores, quick-service chains, foodservice operators, and beverage manufacturers all rely on coffee as both a traffic driver and a profit contributor. Continued cost inflation in the category leaves operators balancing higher input costs against pricing decisions.
Beef and veal prices increased 12.9% year over year, keeping pressure on restaurants, retailers, and manufacturers that depend heavily on beef ingredients. Burger chains, casual-dining operators, prepared-food programs, and retail meat departments remain exposed to rising beef costs. While higher prices can lift dollar sales, they can also affect promotional activity and product mix.
Fresh vegetable prices rose 11.9%, led by tomatoes, which jumped 32.0%, and lettuce, which increased 24.9%. Those gains are particularly important because produce costs often move quickly into menu and shelf prices. Grocers with large fresh departments and restaurants built around salads, sandwiches, and fresh ingredients face some of the sharpest food-cost increases in the report. The increases in tomatoes and lettuce are especially notable given that overall grocery inflation remained relatively modest at 2.7%.
Eggs and Dairy Provide Relief
Not all categories moved higher.
Egg prices fell 35.2% year over year, while cheese declined 6% and broader dairy prices slipped 1%.
That could provide margin relief for bakeries, breakfast concepts, prepared-food manufacturers, pizza operators, and other businesses with significant exposure to eggs and dairy ingredients. After serving as a major source of food inflation in prior periods, eggs are now among the largest declining categories in the CPI basket.
Restaurant Inflation Continues to Outpace Grocery Inflation
Food-at-home prices rose 2.7%, while food-away-from-home prices increased 3.5%. The difference suggests restaurant prices continue to rise faster than grocery prices, making the gap an important measure of pricing pressure across the food sector.
Coffee, beef, and fresh produce remain the clearest areas of inflation pressure in the latest CPI report. At the same time, lower egg and dairy prices offer potential relief for businesses heavily exposed to those ingredients.
For food companies, the headline food inflation rate of 3.1% tells only part of the story. Coffee, beef, and produce prices continue to rise far faster than the overall food index.
The Food Institute Podcast
In this episode of Food for Thought Leadership, Chris Campbell, George Hajjar, and Anna Kinder examine how consumers are adapting to mounting economic pressure, rising gas prices and shifting travel behaviors in 2026. From staycations and micro-vacations to scaled-back road trips and reduced air travel, the FI All-Stars explore how households are reevaluating spending while still searching for meaningful experiences and moments of indulgence.
