Pet food prices: Which U.S. states are seeing the biggest increases and drops

The latest data from the August Consumer Price Index (CPI), released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, reveals that pet food prices are still increasing, even as grocery prices have largely stabilized. GlobalPETS analyses.

Price changes since 2019

According to American market intelligence firm Datasembly’s Grocery Price Index, companion animal food prices have risen by 18.1% over the past 5 years in the U.S., but some states experienced significantly higher increases.

Vermont saw the steepest hike at 44.3%, followed by other states like Louisiana (42.9%), Wyoming (42.7%), Mississippi (42.5%) and Arkansas (42.4%).

However, in recent months, most of these states, except Vermont, have seen a slowdown in price increases.

Cost fluctuations in a year

While overall pet food costs have decreased by 0.4% since August 2023, according to the CPI, state-wise data shows a wide range of fluctuations.

In this case, South Carolina recorded the highest inflation over the past 12 months at 3.4%, followed by Vermont (2.9%), New Mexico (2.6%), North Carolina (2.5%) and Hawaii (1.6%).

Conversely, the states with the largest drop in pet food prices include West Virginia (-1.3%), Pennsylvania (-1.3%), Mississippi (-1%), Colorado (-1%) and Oregon (-0.9%).

Factors at play

The regional price fluctuations can be attributed to multiple factors.

According to the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), events like the drought along the Mississippi River – a major U.S. waterway critical for transporting goods – and the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in 2023 – a key link that transported 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo – have caused significant shipping delays. These disruptions have added further challenges to the U.S. domestic supply chain.

Additionally, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, a key grain exporter, has disrupted international trade of raw materials and contributed to rising costs by affecting global grain supplies and prices.