CLEVELAND — Grocery shopping will be more expensive in 2026. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts food prices overall will rise 3% this year.
Beef prices have already surged more than 15% from 2025 levels, with costs expected to climb further. Prolonged droughts and reduced cattle inventory are contributing factors to the price increases.
"Those kind of shocks can affect the prices for those individual products," said Jonathan Ernest, an economics professor at Case Western Reserve University.
Ernest told Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank that tariffs are also contributing to rising food prices.
"The tariffs have affected a lot of food items both for making it more expensive to import, you know, eggs, beef, other items that, you know, bring in champagne, whatever it might be, into the country," Ernest said.
Coffee prices have been particularly hard hit, as tariff impacts have combined with extreme weather in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer. Prices surged 19% last year and are expected to remain high throughout 2026.
Chocolate and candy prices are expected to spike by up to 6%, driven by record-high cocoa prices and rising sugar costs, both fueled by higher production costs.
Even traditionally budget-friendly canned foods are becoming more expensive. Prices for canned goods are expected to increase as much as 15% due to higher tariffs on tin-coated steel used in can manufacturing.
