The cost of food commodities that make up a typical breakfast has soared to its highest point in a decade under the strain of bad weather and supply-chain crunches, providing another in a long list of upward pressures on global inflation.
The Financial Times breakfast indicator, based on futures prices for coffee, milk, sugar, wheat, oats and orange juice, has shot up 63 per cent since 2019, in a move that has accelerated since this summer.
Food companies are raising prices for consumers to protect their profit margins, with large multinationals including Nestlé and Procter & Gamble warning over the past few weeks that cost pressures will continue to worsen before they get better. Analysts say higher costs for production, processing and transport will keep prices elevated.
“High prices are here for at least another year,” said Carlos Mera, head of agri commodities market research at Rabobank.
Benign weather and bumper crops between 2016 and 2020 meant that prices for food commodities were largely subdued, but since then various problems have struck at once, said Will Osnato, analyst at commodity data and research firm Gro Intelligence.
