Anyone noticed that food prices are going sky high?

Also checking in from a small town in Illinois....and work for retail grocery.

I won't name the company, but we too have noticed the rising cost of many basic grocery items.

What my company has done is selected some basic items from each department and dropped the price. The price has been lowered about 30% and the item has a sticker on it noting the price drop. (No, it isn't a smiley face and I don't work for Wal-Mart).

We have a statement explaining to our customers that we understand that times are tough. We are willing to ride it out with you and drop our profit margin to gain customer trust and loyalty.

Not trying to advertise my employer, I just thought as a consumer that is trying to stretch a dollar, this was a great program to help folks.

In the past month, we've been buying mostly organic foods. Here are some prices of some organic items we buy all the time:

tangerine juice: $3.99 for a half gallon

lactose free milk: $3.99 for a half gallon

strawberries: $2.50 lb.

feta cheese: $6.99 lb.

bananas: 59 cents lb.

tomatoes: $1.99 lb.

eggs: 33 cents each

russet potatoes: $2.99 for 5 lbs.

tuna: $1.19 can

ground buffalo: $5.99 lb.

These are items we purchase regularly, and while the prices do vary some, they've been relatively the same for awhile. While the prices have been relatively stable at the store we buy our organic food from, prices at the regular grocery store have gone up quite a bit...to the point that the difference in cost between organic and non-organic is narrowing. Since organic isn't that much more, we're just going to buy organic as long as we can afford it.

Anyway, as I was comparing the price of what you're paying for juice, milk, and tuna, I noticed that I'm not paying too much more for the same items that are organic. I'm paying a lot more for a dozen eggs though. I pay $4.00 a dozen where you're paying $1.79.

reply to post by Melissa101

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Yeah .. I noticed.. I also noticed tonight when I filled my tank, not even looking at the price (can't change it anyways, eh?) but it cost over $35 to fill up my tiny car.. looked up and it was $3.02 a gallon ..

Have not seen that since .. well over a year.. in fact it was under 2 for quite a while.

i see many people here attribute the rise in product prices to be associated with rising diesel prices, etc.. Honestly I believe it has to do more with greed and profit gouging. People cannot even afford to buy food these days, so where is that stimulus. Everyone knows about the law of supply and demand for Economics... Someone needs to organize a targeted boycott of certain product to force the prices down. We are living in some really sad times and consumers are getting ripped pretty bad.

Just thought I would show how bad it is at my end of the pond over in Scotland. Bear in mind these are the cheapest prices, you want quality goods? Go win the lottery then seems to be the message.

Eggs ----- £2.98 dozen = $4.89 dozen (Way more expensive than $1.79)

Loaf of bread ------- £1.15 each = $1.89 each (Wow, cheaper here for bread than $2.98)

Off brand tuna ------ £1.35 per can = $2.22 per can (more than double the price of $1.05)

Milk ----------- £5.23 Gallon = $8.57 Gallon (just short of double the price you are paying $3.99)

Pack of gum --------- £0.75 per pack = $1.23 (much more cheaper than your paying $2.85)

Beef Roast ---------- per pound £11.32 = $18.57 ( more than double the expense of $7.99)

Ice Cream ----------- $4.29 pint size £1.80 = $2.92 (significantly cheaper than $4.29)

Orange juice ---------- 1/2 Gallon £1.80 = $2.95 (slightly cheaper than $3.29)

Im going to add my cost of a gallon of petrol here as this is the absolute killer for me anyways ------ £1.09 per litre ($1.79) which is a whopping £6 per gallon ($9.84 per gallon, yes you read correctly!)

Looks like your paying more for bread , gum and orange juice but bread is your killer purchase. Beef is mine when compared to your local prices.

Could be worse, hope this table cheers you up chief. You can make bread I guess, might be cheaper but times the problem? I cant make beef

Would be interested to know of fuel prices as well.



[edit on 15-6-2009 by XXXN3O]

I understand inflation.... but companys are getting sneaky in cutting costs, .... replacing ingredients with cheaper, ... cheaper ingredients, cutting down on spices. Even dropping their products a couple of ounces while keeping the price the same.

What they need to do is take some of these profits, and replace all the bullsh*t they add .... with real food !!

MJ,
you bring up an excellent point. If the store brand can be so resonable, why can't the name brand? What is the difference? I know I know quality of ingredients but don't most of these manufactures get the same ingredients from the same suppliers. It just seems to me if the store brand can be so inexpensive then why can't name brands at least be more reasonable?
M101

Melissa101, you should check out this thread...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
The Kosher Racket in this country is a multi-billion dollar industry and is growing exponentially.

reply to post by twitchy

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Thank you twitchy I will look at that. I just found another thread on here that is a little scary, it talks about the future of our food prices due to weather problems all over the world. Nest year may be really bad if this is true...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

wouldn't know, haven't bought much food in years aside from beer , burgers, and twinkies

My husband bought his first "box" of wine last week. LOL

reply to post by Melissa101

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Here in California:

Eggs ----- $1.79 dozen
reg 4.79 large 5.29+

Loaf of bread ------- $2.98 each
reg 2.99-5.99 french/rolls start at 4.79-6.99

Off brand tuna ------ $1.05 per can
depending on store 1.59-1.99

Milk ----------- $3.99 Gallon
4.29 2% 4.89 reg vit D

Pack of gum --------- $2.85 each
1.29-1.89

Beef Roast ---------- $7.99 per pound
nothing under 8.99 a pound and chicken drumsticks are up to 1.99 on sale 2.49 reg.

Ice Cream ----------- $4.29 pint size
cheapest one is 5.99- 6.89

Orange juice ---------- $3.29 1/2 Gallon
5.99 store brand up to 9.99 anything else.


I saw the $6 charmin.. here a 4 pack of it is $6.99 on sale.

We have been watching prices steadily go up an average of 5%+ every other week on alternating item's. Three months ago we could get a loaf of bread for $1.29 store brand; the same loaf at an even LOWER weight is now $1.99-$2.19!

reply to post by xoxo stacie

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This makes me ask: Why is California getting hit so hard? Prices may be like this in NY, NY because they have always had crazy high prices compared to everywhere else. Anyone know why CA is getting it so hard? Also is this what we can all expect to see?

I went to cook a recipe yesterday. It called for a standard jar size of 26 ounces for pasta sauce. That WAS standard.
Well my jar only had 24 ounces.

So it's starting to mess up recipes. :/

What's also tough is if you're shopping for one person. Packaging is definitely not geared toward the single person, so it ends up costing you more.

I love this time of year for the fresh produce that comes available. Fresh, plump eggplant today for $.99/lb. Bought that, store brand sauce for $1.25 a jar, large eggs for $1.39/dz., mozzarella cheese for $2.69, and now I'll make a nice eggplant parmigiana which will last me for 3 days.

But other things, like sweet red peppers ($2.49/lb) and portabella mushrooms ($2.79 for small package) never go down in price, it seems.

reply to post by Melissa101

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Govts issue UNLIMITED FREE MONEY for themselves.
Why worry?
Just print!

There are few things in this world that I actually treat myself to...but having a nice selection of food is a must for me.

I will pay 20 dollars extra a week just to have a nice surplus of food - whether it is good or bad for me.

My family has been going to Krogers lately, and if you shop RIGHT, you can find some good deals.

We do quite well on lunch meat though...the different amount of combinations you can make using 3 or 4 different lunch meats, a few different sauces, and then extra things like pickles...oh boy. Then you got untoasted/toasted, wheat bread, buns, etc.

Food might seem expensive, but it is the one thing you need to live, so have some fun with it. You do not have to spend all of your money just to eat nice...