🟢 Monthly
+12.9% YoY
Coffee price inflation (CPI coffee)
High-visibility input that spiked hardest in 2026 and dominates customer conversation.
The Numbers
Live indicators for RestaurantOwners.news.
Monthly · BLS via FRED
+3.4% YoY
CPI food away from home
Their own pricing power versus competitor prices — the core margin story.
🟢 Monthly
+11.8% YoY
Beef & veal price inflation
Costliest center-of-plate protein, so beef inflation dominates food-cost conversations.
🟢 Monthly
142.953
−7.6% YoY PPI food wholesaling
Largest variable cost (~30% of sales) and the primary driver of the margin squeeze.
🟢 Monthly
+1.0% YoY
Restaurant employment growth (YoY)
Headcount is the second biggest cost line; staffing crunches directly compress margin.
🟡 Monthly
99.8
Restaurant Performance Index (RPI)
The composite operator sentiment benchmark that the industry tracks against 100.
🟢 Monthly
$102.5B
+3.8% YoY Restaurant sales (food services & drinking places)
Industry topline demand gauge that frames whether traffic is growing or contracting.
Updated Jul 21, 2026, 9:02 AM UTC