And more increases appear to be coming down the pike for the pulped-paper-packed protein: Wholesale prices for chicken eggs soared by nearly 55% last month, and wholesale food prices rose by 3.1% (their highest monthly increase in two years). “Overall grocery price inflation is relatively tame; it’s essentially in line with where it was before the pandemic … nothing alarming,” said Gregory Daco, EY Parthenon’s chief economist. Through November, grocery prices were up 1.6% from the year before, according to the latest CPI report. That breakneck pace resulted in grocery prices being 27% higher now than they were in February 2020, before the onset of the pandemic in the US. “That’s the difficult part — you’re unlikely to see food prices fall significantly and revert to 2019 levels,” Daco said.

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