Stop Buying These 3 Grocery Items — Prices Are at a 3-Year High
Written by
Sarah Li Cain
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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You already know that inflation has headed to the grocery store and raised prices. But how much is it costing you now? And are there items that have hit their highest prices in years?
Some of your favorite grocery staples have noticeably gone up in price, and in some cases, a lot more.
Here are three grocery items that have gone up in price, what may be causing these increases and how you can still get them without totally blowing your budget.
Eggs
It may not be breaking news that eggs have cracked under price pressure for a good part of 2025, but you may not know that prices have gone up steadily in the last several years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), egg prices have gone up 16.4% year-over-year as of July 2025.
In fact, egg prices have stayed close to record price levels that we saw during the avian flu outbreak in 2023 to 2024, when millions of flocks were culled, Axios reported. As such, there was less supply, leading to more demand, and with it, higher prices.
Analysis by Food and Water Watch (FWW) exclusively with The Guardian in March found that other factors may be at play with egg prices. Some of these include rising costs of feed and a highly consolidated egg industry.
What to do? If you eat a lot of eggs, it may be worth it to do some price shopping at local grocer stores and warehouse clubs. Sometimes buying in bulk could save you money. You could consider recipes that use less or no eggs.
Ground Beef
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also found that the price of ground beef has gone up 11.5% year-over-year. Steaks and other cuts of beef have also seen similar year-over-year increases.
Reuters reports that lower supplies are caused by years of drought, which could have led to dried-out pastures and higher feed costs. Ranchers probably had to decrease their herds to account for the costs, and lower supplies could take several more years to fix.
It’s possible to use less ground beef to stretch out this grocery staple and not feel like you’re feeling deprived. The trick is to mix in ingredients that are also filling and have a “meaty” texture, like lentils, mushrooms and other types of beans. You can also consider swapping for cheaper alternatives like ground turkey.
Coffee
This among the millions of coffee drinkers may be surprised to find that the same BLS July 2025 report found that this popular beverage has gone up 3.6% year-over-year. While not as drastic as the other two items, heavy coffee drinkers probably don’t want to give up nor spend more on this grocery staple.
What has caused this increase? Like eggs and beef, lower supplies. The Associated Press reports extreme weather and droughts in counties like Brazil, Columbia and Vietnam have meant that bean yields are lower and have increased bean prices globally. Tariffs on Brazilian coffee imports could also add to rising costs.
Take the time to compare prices between whole beans and ground coffee to help you save money. You could also experiment with store brands or coffee originating from different countries.
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