Food prices rose once again during the month of September, up 0.2% after an increase of the same amount in August, according to the recently released nclick="javascript:window.open('https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm', '_blank', 'noopener'); return false;">CPI report. 

Food at home

The food at home index rose 0.1% in September, following August’s 0.2% increase. Half of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased during this time. Meanwhile, the index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased the most at 0.5%. The index for cereals and bakery products saw its first decline since June 2021, falling 0.4% during the month of September.

Price changes for the other major grocery store groups included:

• Other food at home: +0.3% (+0.2% in August)
• Dairy and related products: +0.1% (-0.4% in August)
• Fruits and vegetables: unchanged (-0.2% in August)
• Nonalcoholic beverages: unchanged (-0.2% in August)

The food at home index rose 2.4% during the past 12 months. The index for cereals and bakery products experienced the biggest jump during this time period, rising 4.8%, while the dairy and related products index decreased 0.2%. The rest of the  grocery store food groups increased anywher from 0.2% (meat, poultry, fish, and eggs) to 4.2% (other food at home).

Food away from home

The index for food away from home rose 0.4% in September, after rising 0.3% in August. The index for full service meals and the index for limited service meals both increased 0.4% during the month. 

The index for food away from home rose 6.0% during the past 12 months. The index for limited service meals increased 6.4% during this time, and the index for full service meals went up 5.1%.