Grocery stores are already beginning to feel the impact of increased gas prices and food prices are expected to continue to rise in the coming weeks.
Since January 2021, the average price of food has already gone up about 7.4 percent. At Jubilee Food Market in Waco, office manager Claudell Copeland is watching the cost of her products continue to rise in recent weeks.
"Eggs change every week, and also milk prices are going up as well," she said, explaining that meat and produce have had the most price fluctuation as of late.
The store, designed to offer competitive prices for a neighborhood without many grocery options, is trying its best to not pass those costs onto customers.
"There's shipping fees, there's stock fees, there's gas fees, there's all kinds of fees that these companies are slipping in on us," she said.
Baylor University supply chain management professor Pedro Reyes told 25 News last week that the grocery supply chain is very resilient and things will go back to normal. It's still unclear, however, how long or to what extent the problem will continue.
"We're not going to go hungry, we will have food, no question. But we may not have the proliferation of choices that we've been accustomed to," Reyes said.
For those who struggle to keep up with the rising costs in their monthly budgets, there are options for assistance.
Local food pantries like Caritas are preparing for those price increases and expecting more clients in the coming weeks.
"We will always need more assistance, but we are prepared to handle that influx if it does happen," Charles Ray Harris, Jr., assistant executive director of Caritas said. "We will continue to provide that quality support to our community by giving them what we have."
