Food is getting more expensive before it even reaches the store. Prices that businesses pay for fresh and dry vegetables jumped 27% last month, following a 31% rise the month before.
\n\nWholesale prices are what food distributors, grocery chains and other companies pay farmers and producers. They matter because they often show up later on the price tags shoppers see.
\n\nOverall, wholesale food prices are now 1.7% higher than they were a year ago. That ends a three-month run in which prices were lower than the year before.
\n\nThe war involving Iran has added to the strain. It has pushed up the cost of fertilizer and fuel, which makes food more expensive to grow and to move.
\n\nTransport costs show how bad it has become. A regional grocery chain told Federal Reserve officials that shipping a head of lettuce from California now costs more than the lettuce itself. The chain blamed high diesel prices. Truck freight costs are up almost 25% over the past year. That is the biggest yearly jump since 2022 and similar to what was seen during the inflation shock of the pandemic years.
\n\nGrocery prices rose 0.4% in that period, the largest monthly increase in six…
Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/world
