Egg prices soar as key vegetable sees biggest hike among all food items

Prices for common grocery store items are on the rise. Lettuce and eggs have seen the most significant price hikes among all food and drink items since the start of 2024, per the newest six-month data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, citrus fruits have seen a drop in price after bouncing back from a challenging 2023.

The price of lettuce has risen by 10.3% from last November through May, according to consumer price index data.

This increase is partly due to a low supply caused by unfavorable weather conditions for growing in California and Arizona, Miguel Gomez, a food and agricultural economist at Cornell University, informed Forbes .

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Growing lettuce can be complicated as it primarily thrives in western states that are grappling with water supply issues.

It's also labor-intensive, making it more costly to produce, especially in states like California that have increased the minimum wage, potentially passing this cost onto consumers, explained Colorado State University professor Dawn Thilmany.

Eggs followed lettuce with the second-largest increase at 9.5%. Gomez suggested this might be due to suppliers overcompensating after prices fluctuated significantly last year.

Thilmany added that this could still be linked to the recovery from the impact of avian influenza on laying houses and supply in recent years.

Citrus fruits, oranges and tangerines, along with apples, are among the top five items seeing the biggest price drops, a trend Gomez attributes to a bountiful citrus harvest in the U.S. this year.

This boom has led to an oversupply domestically, on top of imports from abroad, marking a turnaround from the challenging citrus market of 2023.

Thilmany concurs with Gomez's analysis regarding the dip in fruit prices, noting that "really good growing conditions" for winter crops such as citrus are likely behind the cost reductions.