3 grocery staples that are about to skyrocket in price next month [View all]

If your grocery bill feels heavier lately, you're not imagining it. Food prices are expected to rise in 2026, with the USDA's February 25 forecast projecting a general increase of roughly 3.1 percent across all food categories. That broad number, though, can mask dramatic spikes in specific aisles. Prices are projected to increase fastest for sugar and sweets, beef and veal, and non-alcoholic beverages compared to other food-at-home categories. For shoppers trying to plan ahead, the three items below deserve a closer look before next month's checkout.

1. Beef - A Supply Crisis Decades in the Making

The U.S. cattle inventory has hit a 75-year low, tightening supplies and driving higher beef prices and market volatility. According to the USDA's January 2026 inventory report, the total number of cattle and calves in the United States stands at just 86.2 million head - the smallest national herd in 75 years - and the beef cow herd has dwindled to 27.6 million head, its lowest point since 1961. This crisis began years ago with persistent droughts in the Southern Plains and was worsened by high interest rates throughout 2024 and 2025, which forced many ranchers to sell off heifers rather than retain them for breeding.

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2. Coffee - Tariffs and Drought Squeeze America's Morning Ritual

Prices for non-alcoholic beverages, including coffee, had increased by 1.6 percent from December 2025 to January 2026 and were 4.5 percent higher than in January 2025, with the USDA noting that prices were rising faster than the 20-year historical rate - partly because of the surge in coffee prices. The story behind that surge has two main chapters: weather and trade policy. A severe drought during Brazil's last summer season devastated the harvest - and Brazil is the world's top coffee producer, supplying roughly 40 percent of global volume. Vietnam, the world's second-largest supplier, was also hit by a drought that caused coffee production to fall by roughly a fifth in 2024.

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3. Sugar and Sweets - The Biggest Price Hike on the Shelf

According to the USDA's report, the grocery items that will likely go up the most in 2026 are sugar and sweets. Prices for these groceries were already 5.7 percent higher in January 2026 than in January 2025, with candy and chewing gum experiencing the largest hikes, and the USDA predicted that prices for sugar and sweets will rise by 6.7 percent in 2026 - with a prediction interval as high as 10.2 percent. That would more than double the historical average increase of around 3.1 percent for the category. This makes sugar and sweets the single fastest-rising food category tracked in the USDA's Food Price Outlook.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/3-grocery-staples-that-are-about-to-skyrocket-in-price-next-month/ar-AA1Zso09