Grocery Relief: April Food at Home Prices Take First Dip Since 2020

Shoppers caught a bit of a break at grocery checkout lines as April food prices inched down 0.1%. Plummeting egg costs led the way after months of increase, according to the latest Consumer Price Index.

Food at home

The food at home index fell 0.4% in April, the largest decline since September 2020, reflecting decreases in five of the six major grocery store food groups.

A 12.7% plunge in egg prices led to a 1.6% decrease in the meat, poultry, fish, and eggs index, reversing its recent upward trend. Price decreases were also seen in cereals and bakery products (-0.5%), fruits and vegetables (-0.4%), dairy and related products (-0.2%), and other food at home (-0.1%). Meanwhile, the nonalcoholic beverages index increased 0.7%.

Over the past year, the food at home index has gone up 2.0%. There was a 7.0% increase in the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index during that time, with eggs surging 49.3%. Nonalcoholic beverages increased 3.2%, dairy and related products rose 1.6%, and other food at home increased 0.7%. The cereals and bakery products index remained unchanged, while fruits and vegetables prices dropped by 0.9%.

Food away from home

There was another 0.4% increase in the food away from home index in April, with both full service meals (0.6%) and limited service meals (0.3%) contributing to the rise. Food away from home experienced a total increase of 3.9% over the last 12 months, with full service meals rising 4.3% and limited service meals increasing 3.4%.