Skyrocketing prices: 5 everyday foods facing the highest price increases in 2025
In 2025, consumers faced an unprecedented surge in the prices of many food commodities, significantly impacting their purchasing habits and daily spending. Driving these price increases were complex and interconnected factors, including the climate crisis, which damaged crops and agricultural production; geopolitical tensions that shook global markets; and rising energy costs, which affected every stage of the production chain. The combination of these elements has caused prices to rise dramatically, putting pressure on household budgets. Below, we analyze five foods that have experienced the sharpest increases.
1. Cocoa
In 2024, the price of cocoa increased by 30% globally, marking one of the most significant increases in recent years (source: cadenaser.com).
Why is the price of cocoa rising?
The main cause of this rise in price has been the impact of adverse weather conditions in West Africa, a major cocoa-growing area in the world. Extreme weather events, such as prolonged droughts and torrential rains, have drastically reduced world production by 14%, creating a major imbalance between supply and demand. This situation has directly affected the entire chocolate market, leading to higher production costs and, as a result, higher prices for consumers.
2. Coffee
Coffee, one of the most loved and consumed beverages globally, has experienced a significant price hike in recent years. Between 2021 and 2024, the retail cost of roasted coffee increased by 48.8% to an average of 13.35 USD per kilogram, turning what was considered an everyday pleasure into an increasingly expensive commodity (source: ansa.co.uk).
Why is the price of coffee rising?
The rising price of coffee is due to several interrelated causes. First, unfavorable weather has hit crops hard in major producing areas, such as Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia. Extreme events, such as droughts, sudden frosts and heavy rains, have reduced production, creating a global supply shortage. This is compounded by rising global demand, driven by both population growth and booming consumption in emerging countries, where coffee is becoming increasingly popular.
3. Vegetable oils
Vegetable oils, such as palm oil and sunflower oil, have experienced significant price increases. In 2024, these oils reached record prices, with some increases exceeding 80% (source: panorama.co.uk).
Why is the price of vegetable oil rising?
Rising vegetable oil prices are caused by the climate crisis, with extreme events affecting crops in key regions such as Southeast Asia and Ukraine, and geopolitical tensions, which have reduced global supply. In addition, the sharp imbalance between growing demand, also driven by industrial use, and insufficient supply has contributed to rising prices, affecting the cost of many food and processed products.
4. Butter
Butter has risen significantly in price in recent years, becoming one of the symbolic foods of the food commodity crisis. From 2021 to 2024, its retail cost increased by 48.8% to an average of 13.35 USD per kilogram (source: ansa.co.uk), a level that has weighed significantly on consumers and the food industry.
Why is the price of butter rising?
The rise in butter prices is due to higher production costs, linked to more expensive feed, expensive energy and logistical difficulties, and growing demand, both domestic and industrial, especially in the bakery and pastry sectors. In addition, weather conditions have reduced milk quality and quantity, making butter increasingly expensive and impacting many food products that use it.
5. Hazelnuts
In 2024, hazelnuts reached record price levels, with increases in some cases exceeding 80%, significantly affecting the cost of products that use them as a main ingredient.
Why is the price of hazelnuts rising?
As Quotidiano.net reports , the increase in hazelnut prices can be attributed to several factors. On the one hand, uncertainty about the quality of the 2024/2025 harvest weighs heavily, and on the other, purchasing dynamics on a global scale have helped push up prices. Further complicating the situation are the severe damage caused in some production areas by the Asian bug, an insect pest that has hit crops hard, and the growing impact of the climate crisis.
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