U.S. Grocery Coffee Prices Hit All-Time Average High in April

"The average price of a pound of roasted ground coffee at U.S. grocery stores reached $9.72 in April 2026, marking the highest level on record since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking the figure in 1980. As published May 12 through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's FRED database, the $9.72 mark for April edged out the previous high of $9.60 in March, continuing a rise in the average-price series of roughly 39% since January 2025."

"The BLS figure covers ground, regular-caffeine roast coffee sold in cans or plastic containers at retail, collected monthly across 75 urban areas as part of the Consumer Price Index survey. It is a measure of what U.S. shoppers are paying for packaged ground coffee at the shelf, not a commodity or futures price. The latest BLS average-price figure shows the series has jumped 105% since April 2021 and 29% over the past year."

"According to the latest BLS data, coffee prices far outpaced overall grocery inflation in April 2026. The BLS coffee index was up 18.5% from April 2025 to April 2026, while roasted coffee was up 17.3% and instant coffee was up 22.8%. Food-at-home prices, by comparison, were up 2.9% over the same period, while the overall Consumer Price Index was up 3.8%."

"The coffee price run has been driven by numerous pressures, including sustained nominally high costs for green coffee tied to supply constraints and rising global demand, combined with the Trump administration's "reciprocal tariffs" enacted in April 2025. Analysts and coffee-producer groups have since warned that coffee production costs may continue to increase due to rising fertilizer and energy costs tied to the U.S. war in Iran."

The average price of a pound of roasted ground coffee at U.S. grocery stores reached $9.72 in April 2026, the highest level since tracking began in 1980. The April figure rose above the prior record of $9.60 in March and continued an increase of about 39% since January 2025. The measure reflects what shoppers pay for packaged ground coffee at retail, covering regular-caffeine roasted ground coffee sold in cans or plastic containers across 75 urban areas. The series is up 105% since April 2021 and 29% over the past year. Coffee prices also rose faster than overall grocery inflation, with roasted coffee up 17.3% and instant coffee up 22.8% year over year, while food-at-home rose 2.9% and the overall CPI rose 3.8%.

Read at Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine