Year-on-year inflation in January was 1.6 percent. Food prices rose by an average of 1.3 percent. More dramatic is the further rise in rental prices, which rose by 5.1 percent over the year.
On closer inspection, there are still large fluctuations in the prices of some foods – the reasons are partly seasonal and quite common. Among the ten foods that have risen in price the most since January 2025, salad cucumber stands out. The price of this vegetable jumped from 58 crowns to almost 83 crowns per kilogram.
“It’s all greenhouse production, into which energy prices are prescribed. Because of the high prices, no one in the Czech Republic wants to grow them, and then a small outage in the Netherlands, from where they are imported, is enough,” explains vegetable grower Petr Hanka.
Cocoa prices rose by 29 percent and roasted coffee beans by 23 percent, according to a comparison of data from the Czech Statistical Office. Czechs buy both items to a large extent in discount events.
Both cocoa and coffee are rising in price mainly due to bad weather and climate change in the main growing countries, which are reducing yields. For cocoa, the crisis in West Africa plays a big role, for coffee, drought and frost in Brazil and Vietnam. Prices are also driven up by more expensive transport, energy and growing demand.
Beef, chicken and eggs also appear in the list of ten foods that have risen in price the most. In the case of eggs, the cause is bird flu in Europe and the conversion of Czech cage farms to indoor ones.
The increase in the price of beef is a long-term trend. According to the chairman of the Czech Association of Meat Processors Jaromír Kloud, this is due to a combination of several things. “Europe is reducing stocks under the pressure of the Green Deal. Five years ago it had 65 million head of beef, now it is 5 million head less,” he said, adding: “The second reason is that beef from Europe is massively bought by Turkey. Hungary and Poland supply there from halal slaughterhouses, and Poland buys live animals for slaughtering cattle from neighboring countries, including Czech farms.”
The opposite is the case of pork, which, on the other hand, became cheaper by approximately one-fifth year-on-year. For example, a kilogram of roast pork, which cost 146 crowns last January, is now available in stores for 116 crowns. Discounts of chains also have an influence on the price.
“Prices are falling mainly because of the situation in Spain, where there was African swine fever, and the country’s export markets outside the EU were closed. That is why it sells its pork on the EU market. Spain has always bought pork more expensively than Germany, but it has been the other way around for a quarter of a year now,” explained Kloud. According to him, in some countries, for example in the Netherlands, Belgium or Denmark, there is also pressure to reduce pig breeding.
Most vegetables are also cheap. As Petr Hanka explains, the reason is the large stocks of greengrocers and distributors not only in Europe, but also in the Czech Republic. The king of discounting is celery, whose price per kilogram fell from 47 crowns to 22 crowns, i.e. by 53 percent. “In 20 years, I don’t remember selling celery so cheaply. We are hitting rock bottom because there was a big crop all over Europe,” said Hanka.
White cabbage, onions, potatoes, carrots or cauliflower are also ten percent cheaper. “Potatoes in the grocery store are sold for three crowns,” says Hanka. According to the CZSO, a kilogram of potatoes costs 15 crowns in stores. According to him, there is also a big difference between wholesale and retail prices for other vegetables. For example, greengrocers allegedly sell carrots for about 5 crowns, while one kilogram in the store costs over 20 crowns.
He said that the differences between the wholesale price and the price in the shop are high even in other years, but the large stocks push greengrocers into even lower prices. For example, onions are said to sell for 5 crowns, which is 2 crowns less than in other years at the beginning of the year. In the store, onions are sold for 16 crowns per kilo.
However, it follows from the price comparison in chains that regularly carry out Seznam Zprávy that most food and beverage prices have not changed after the new year, as shown by the comparison from December 8, 2025 and February 6, 2026 in the Tesco store in OC Nový Smíchov, Penny in Pečky and in Albert and Lidl in Poděbrady.
Photo: Filip Horáček
Upward or downward revaluation occurs in a minimal number of cases. For example, the price increase announced in the fall by the dairy company Savencia F&D began to be projected with a delay. The king of cheeses in the Tesco store increased in price from 56.90 to 59.90 crowns from December 8.
“In the autumn, we announced a price increase on the market. This change has now started to be reflected in retail stores. The reason is, on the one hand, rising costs and, on the other hand, a drop in the prices of secondary raw materials (for example, skimmed milk), which we resell,” said Michaela Procházková on behalf of the company, adding that the final pricing is fully within the competence of retail chains.
In the same network, the price of Olomouc cottage cheese 125 g rose from 49.90 to 51.90 crowns, Dobrá voda with orange flavor from 12.90 to 13.90 CZK. On the other hand, Valašské yogurts, butter, Opavia Golden Wreaths and Eidam cheese have been reduced by 30 percent. Cosmetic changes also took place in Lidl and Penny.
date:2026-02-13 15:30:00
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