US. Prices for sugar, butter, coffee and minced meat have risen

Donald Trump cannot stop the rise in prices for products in the United States. Although he promised to do it immediately after being elected president. After his election, even the Big Mac in American McDonald’s establishments went up in price. Since The Economist calculated its index (in January 2025), this hamburger has risen to $5.99 – inflation was actually 3.5%.

Product inflation is growing not only because of bird flu and egg shortages. Over the past four years, the prices of coffee, sugar, ground beef and butter in the USA have risen fabulously – from 35 to 53%. Americans began to save for the first time in two years, and in the first month of Trump’s work, they cut their expenses.

Food prices in the USA in 2025

In January 2025, the product price index grew by 0.4%, the US Bureau of Statistics notes. In particular, prices for meat, poultry, fish and eggs increased by 1.9%. Eggs traveled especially noticeably – by 15.2%, which is the largest increase since June 2015. LIGA.net has already considered the situation with chicken eggs, now we will pay attention to other products that have traveled a lot.

Coffee

A 53% increase in the price of coffee is due to the failure of the harvest in the leading producing countries, such as Brazil and Vietnam. Low harvests of robusta in Vietnam led to a decrease in supply on the world market, which led to an increase in prices. By the way, in the USA, it is precisely with Vietnam that the state of the trade balance is one of the worst – the import of Vietnamese goods significantly exceeds the countermovement of American goods.

The USA is the largest importer of coffee in the world. Therefore, the pressure of demand from this country on the world market leads to the fact that coffee is becoming more expensive in Ukraine as well.

Sugar

The increase in the cost of sugar by 48% is due to droughts in India and other countries that cultivate sugar cane. This led to a reduction in production and an increase in the sale of beet sugar. Thanks to the problems of competitors, Ukraine exported a record amount of sugar in 2024. Moreover, since July of last year, the markets of the EU countries were actually closed for Ukrainian sugar producers due to the fulfillment of annual quotas.

The rise in sugar prices in the USA distracts competitors from EU markets. This gives chances for an additional increase in prices, which may provoke an increase in the quota for Ukraine in 2025. Currently, it is set at the level of 109,400 tons. The possibilities of Ukrainian sugar manufacturers are seven times greater – in 2024, 746,300 tons of sugar were exported.

Butter

The price of butter in the USA increased by 35% due to increased demand for this product on world markets. Several Ukrainian companies – Terra Food, Como – supply butter and cheese to the United States. Although the main volumes of Ukrainian production are focused on the EU and MENA markets. In case of further oil inflation in the USA, it will make its export there even more attractive. Another problem is that in the United States, cases of cow disease with bird flu have been recorded, which may lead to restrictions on dairy products from American farmers.

Vegetables and fruits

As for vegetables and fruits that traveled less than other products (tomatoes +6%, bananas +4%), the test is yet to come. First, by import tariffs, and secondly, by expelling from the country migrants who are the main workers on plantations in the USA. Such steps will necessarily lead to an increase in the price of both imported vegetables and fruits (bananas) and home-grown (tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, oranges and peaches). For Ukraine, there are the same risks as in the case of coffee – an increase in prices in stores due to an increase in prices on world markets.

Tags: food, prices, USA