Diesel fuel hit a record high nationally and in Connecticut amid Trump’s war in Iran, driving up shipping and transportation costs
McDonald’s CEO warned the restaurant industry faced an increasingly difficult environment as record beef prices dragged on sales
The food industry said grocers would begin passing elevated costs on to consumers, with prices expected to climb into 2027
With diesel fuel hitting an all-time high of $6.53 per gallon nationally and $6.48 per gallon in Connecticut as of September 24 amid Trump’s war in Iran, more warnings emerged that rising shipping and transportation costs would bleed into the cost of food.
One of those warnings came from McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski, according to CNBC. In a recent interview with the business news platform, Kempczinski said the restaurant and food industry are facing increasingly challenging environments considering the record-high cost of beef, which is dragging restaurant sales.
Restaurant traffic fell month to month in every month but one from August 2025 to July 2026, CNBC reported. Kempczinski said the impact of inflation had become “sticky” for the industry.
Kempczinski also acknowledged that McDonald’s, the largest restaurant chain in America, had raised its prices too quickly in recent years.
Things are expected to get worse in coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported, as a secondary impact of inflation sees fuel prices work their way throughout the economy, causing upward pressure to prices throughout a number of industries.
That secondary effect is often overlooked because oil crises are typically brief, the Journal reported, but with the Iran war continuing and no quick end in sight, oil prices were likely to remain volatile. Morgan Stanley projected core inflation would stay elevated through at least the next year.
Consumers should expect grocery inflation in particular to trigger in the coming months as the Food Industry Association said elevated costs that have been absorbed until recently will begin passing through to consumers, Grocery Dive reported. The news source noted the war is pressuring the grocery industry enough that retail prices are expected to grow through the end of the year and 2027, with diesel causing transportation costs, storage costs, operation costs and farming costs all to grow in coming months.
Increases in diesel and gasoline costs since the start of February had cost consumers more than $113 billion, Grocery Dive reported.
