Food Prices in 2026: What Will Get Cheaper and What Will Soar.

According to ТСН: At the beginning of 2026, Ukrainians should expect a mixed price situation: dairy products with high fat content and some vegetables will become cheaper, while bread, eggs, and greenhouse vegetables will increase in price. The main factors affecting prices are the cost of electricity, weather conditions, and the real purchasing power of the population, as experts note.

Which Products Will Increase in Price

The Deputy Head of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, Denys Marchuk, reports that one of the few sectors where Ukrainians can hope for budget relief will be dairy products with high fat content, especially cream and butter.

«Starting in January, when consumer demand decreases, we will see an even greater reduction in prices, approximately by 10–15%. High-fat dairy products will become more affordable, and this will surely please consumers,» explains the expert.

The situation with drinking milk is less optimistic: despite a reduction in the purchase price by over 2 hryvnias per liter, consumers do not practically feel this.

«The purchase price is decreasing, but the shelves in stores remain unchanged. This raises questions for regulators and retail networks as to why this difference is not legislatively regulated,» emphasizes Marchuk.

Prices for borscht vegetables remain low due to a successful harvest and long positive temperatures at the end of 2025. Cabbage, beet, and carrot are currently approximately 80% cheaper than last year. However, this situation is unstable: as frosts set in, storage costs will rise, especially due to possible power outages.

«During this period, borscht vegetables may increase in price by 10–20% — everything will depend on the supply volumes,» predicts Marchuk.

The situation with greenhouse vegetables is different: the season has already ended, so the market is almost entirely dependent on imports. The main supplier remains Turkey, where purchases are costly.

In 2026, bread will remain a product that systematically increases in price. According to the expert, the main factor is electricity, without stable supplies of which no stage of production is possible.

The situation in the meat market looks more stable. Pork, which became more expensive before the holidays, may stabilize or even slightly decrease in price in the second half of January, while beef remains the most expensive type of meat.

«Beef is already expensive now, and it is difficult to increase the price further — the market is constrained by the purchasing power of consumers,» explains Marchuk.

Chicken, being the most affordable type of meat for Ukrainians, may also stabilize after the holiday demand peak. The egg market traditionally reacts to seasonal fluctuations: demand rose before the holidays, while supply from households decreased. Prices also depend on feed costs, logistics, and electricity.

Potatoes on the Ukrainian market are sold within 6–12 UAH per kilogram, which is on average 10% cheaper than at the end of last week.

Price correction is associated with several factors:

• weak demand

• stable supplies from local farms

• not very high quality of products, which hinders sales rates in the domestic market.

At the same time, potatoes in Ukraine are currently sold on average 61% cheaper than at the end of December last year.

Thus, the year 2026 will begin with serious price fluctuations in the food market. Price increases for staple products like bread and eggs, along with decreases in dairy products and certain vegetables, create a mixed situation for consumers. Experts emphasize the importance of monitoring prices and adapting to market changes to maintain financial stability in household budgets.