"Shrinkflation" ... now I have a word to describe my frustration with food prices.

[Perknose]

ITT: An entire discussion based on "Back in my day...."

Yeah. What good could that possibly be?

 

[Svnla]

What do you guys pay for:
1 lb of ground beef or chicken
Dozen eggs
15 oz can of black beans
1 lb carrots

Legs or thighs - $1/lb. Breasts w/ bones and skin - $1.50/lb. Breasts w/ no skin or bone - $2/lb. Not sure about ground beef but beef is not cheap around here.
Dozen eggs - $1 or less on sale, $1.5 regular price
I don't eat canned food much.
Carrots - about $1.25/lb bag.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Have not checked cauliflower here in a while but I know at one point it was selling for about $10 a head. People were joking about having to take a second mortgage just to buy a head of cauliflower. Think it had to do with an increased demand because of a "health craze du jour" involving using it instead of rice. So they jacked up the prices to cash in.

 

[Carson Dyle]

What do you guys pay for:
1 lb of ground beef or chicken
Dozen eggs
15 oz can of black beans
1 lb carrots

Seems most things I buy are regularly on sale at one of the four grocery stores where I shop. It's just a matter of going through the weekly online circular on Tuesday or Wednesday and making a list.

Ground beef

Usually $3.77 to $3.99/lb for 93% lean beef and I've been getting a lot of $1.50 off coupons from Kroger, so typically pay $2.27 lb. The 85/15 or 80/20 I get for hamburgers is about $2.99 lb.

Ground turkey is about the same - 93% for about $3.99-$4.29 lb.

Chicken

$2.99 lb for BSCB, but often $1.99 lb on sale. Boneless skinless thighs for $1.49-$1.79.

Dozen eggs

Kroger and Safeway always have large eggs on sale. Rarely does one or the other not. Usually 99 cents per dozen, and sometimes 79 cents a dozen. I've gotten 18 packs from Safeway for 99 cents several times this year.

15 oz can of black beans

79-89 cents. I really love Kuner's Jalapeno Black Beans with Lime, which I think are 99 cents.

1 lb carrots

79 cents, bagged or loose.

 

[BoomerD]

Canned beans are $1
Eggs are either 70¢(Aldi) or $2.50(local farmer)
Not sure about carrots
I don't buy fresh meat

Dozen large eggs here run $1.99 normally...but 79-99 cents is a decent price when they're on sale. "Farm fresh" eggs are usually about $4/dozen.

 

[Dulanic]

One of the reasons I go to Aldi or Trader Joe's to still buy my 64oz OJ instead of the scam 59oz.

 

[Exterous]

Seems most things I buy are regularly on sale at one of the four grocery stores where I shop. It's just a matter of going through the weekly online circular on Tuesday or Wednesday and making a list.

Ground beef

Usually $3.77 to $3.99/lb for 93% lean beef and I've been getting a lot of $1.50 off coupons from Kroger, so typically pay $2.27 lb. The 85/15 or 80/20 I get for hamburgers is about $2.99 lb.

Ground turkey is about the same - 93% for about $3.99-$4.29 lb.

Chicken

$2.99 lb for BSCB, but often $1.99 lb on sale. Boneless skinless thighs for $1.49-$1.79.

Dozen eggs

Kroger and Safeway always have large eggs on sale. Rarely does one or the other not. Usually 99 cents per dozen, and sometimes 79 cents a dozen. I've gotten 18 packs from Safeway for 99 cents several times this year.

15 oz can of black beans

79-89 cents. I really love Kuner's Jalapeno Black Beans with Lime, which I think are 99 cents.

1 lb carrots

79 cents, bagged or loose.

My area is pretty close to the same. Except for eggs. I'm not sure if there is some sort of egg war going on between the grocers right now but I've seen them as low as 39 cents for a dozen lately

Milk seems to be another thing that varies a lot by area. I've seen some fairly high prices posted on here compared to the $1.99-$2.29/gal I usually pay.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Lately, there appears to be an egg price battle in my area. Aldi started selling eggs at 59 cents a dozen.... Kroger dropped their prices to match...then Aldi went to 39 cents......then 29 cents... Walmart had them at 39 cents yesterday. Right now is a heck of a good time to live off omelettes and egg nog.

Hah...just read the post above mine. Yeah...milk prices have dropped in my area as well. $2.39-2.50 a gallon. It was $3.40 a gallon.

I get it though...perishable commodities are going to drop a lot faster than anything else. They gotta move them and if there's enough competition, the goods get devalued very quickly.

 

[JTsyo]

There isn't an OPEC-like central body that has all farmers slightly cut back to counteract the food price decline. Thus it takes many years to actually make a proper production cut to get the farm revenue back up like you were describing.

I thought the federal government offered subsidies to farmers to limit their output to keep prices stable.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

If you can afford a cell phone you can afford to eat. Cell phones are a luxury. Get over it (it being paying for the most expensive form of communication).

 

[Genx87]

There is also a scam these companies will pull at major grocers. They will shrink the can\bag but keep the same price. This will mess with the price per metric. Grocers don't change the pricing sticker unless the price changes. I was part of a company that sued McCormick for this practice. McCormick shrunk some of their seasoning containers from 8 to 6 oz. But the price per oz didn't change on the sticker because the price stayed the same.

I didn't really understand the issue at first. But talking to people who worked in the grocery business it made sense. It is expense to re-sticker items. So it only happens when there is a price change.

 

[dullard]

If you can afford a cell phone you can afford to eat. Cell phones are a luxury. Get over it (it being paying for the most expensive form of communication).

It is damn hard to work a low wage job who's hours change by the day/week without communication. My smart phone is $15/month + data. It isn't that expensive.

 

[dullard]

I thought the federal government offered subsidies to farmers to limit their output to keep prices stable.

It was technically a payment only if they rotated crops (they were paid not to plant their old crop, but only if they planted a new crop). But, it has gone away and now we have this:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt...idies-persist-and-grow-despite-talk-of-reform

In its place, the law set up new programs that pay farmers when commodity prices fall. And indeed they have been falling since the last Farm Bill.

Many observers, in fact, expected corn and soybean prices to fall, because they had been extraordinarily high in recent years.

"Farmers made a gamble," says David Orden, an agricultural economist at the International Food Policy Research Institute. "They were gambling that if prices came down, they'd get more money this way." That gamble, it seems, paid off.

Plant more, price falls, government pays you more. Simple math to encourage overproduction.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Milk seems to be another thing that varies a lot by area. I've seen some fairly high prices posted on here compared to the $1.99-$2.29/gal I usually pay.

I pay exactly the same for milk. I've never fully understood how a store can sell some name brand milk or eggs in the same case for double the price. I think many people are just slaves to name brands.

 

[Carson Dyle]

There is also a scam these companies will pull at major grocers. They will shrink the can\bag but keep the same price. This will mess with the price per metric. Grocers don't change the pricing sticker unless the price changes.

I was part of a company that sued McCormick for this practice. McCormick shrunk some of their seasoning containers from 8 to 6 oz. But the price per oz didn't change on the sticker because the price stayed the same.

I didn't really understand the issue at first. But talking to people who worked in the grocery business it made sense. It is expense to re-sticker items. So it only happens when there is a price change.

I don't think that's a scam, in any way. The retail price is set by the retailer, not the manufacturer, so it's up to them to get the shelf labeling correct. It's not expensive to change those shelf labels. Prices in grocery stores change on dozens of items every week, so changing labels is a constant, ongoing job. But it has to be difficult to keep up with the size of items being delivered. What I commonly see is a week or two delay in the labeling until it reflects the new package size and per unit price.

 

[ultimatebob]

I don't think that's a scam, in any way. The retail price is set by the retailer, not the manufacturer, so it's up to them to get the shelf labeling correct. It's not expensive to change those shelf labels. Prices in grocery stores change on dozens of items every week, so changing labels is a constant, ongoing job. But it has to be difficult to keep up with the size of items being delivered. What I commonly see is a week or two delay in the labeling until it reflects the new package size and per unit price.

Heh, I used to change prices when I worked as a grocery store clerk as a teenager. I must have marked up items hundreds of times only to "discount" some of them 10 to 25% off a week later. Basically, the item was only a few cents less than the old retail price, which then went back to the new marked up price a week later.

The number of items that went up in price every week vs the number of items that went down every week was like 10 to 1. Basically, they just used the sales to generate price confusion so you were less likely to notice that your total grocery bill was creeping up about 5% every year. That was before they started pulling this crap with the smaller portion sizes as well.

 

[purbeast0]

I noticed but we're eating less processed food so it doesn't bother me too much. Commodity and wholesale price fluctuations annoy me more as I buy in bulk.

I generally stick to the outer edges of the grocery store when I shop as well and very rarely make my way into the middle aisles where all the processed crap is. My bill has generally been around the same price for the past 5 years I've shopped at the same grocery store.

 

[gorcorps]

There is also a scam these companies will pull at major grocers. They will shrink the can\bag but keep the same price. This will mess with the price per metric. Grocers don't change the pricing sticker unless the price changes. I was part of a company that sued McCormick for this practice. McCormick shrunk some of their seasoning containers from 8 to 6 oz. But the price per oz didn't change on the sticker because the price stayed the same.

I didn't really understand the issue at first. But talking to people who worked in the grocery business it made sense. It is expense to re-sticker items. So it only happens when there is a price change.

How is it McCormick's fault that the grocery is too cheap/lazy to update the sticker?

Sounds like bullshit lawsuits like the ones your company started aren't helping my food prices either. Thanks for nothing

 

[Carson Dyle]

Heh, I used to change prices when I worked as a grocery store clerk as a teenager. I must have marked up items hundreds of times only to "discount" some of them 10 to 25% off a week later. Basically, the item was only a few cents less than the old retail price, which then went back to the new marked up price a week later.

The number of items that went up in price every week vs the number of items that went down every week was like 10 to 1. Basically, they just used the sales to generate price confusion so you were less likely to notice that your total grocery bill was creeping up about 5% every year. That was before they started pulling this crap with the smaller portion sizes as well.

Walmart is the only grocer I know that does that systematically. They don't run sales, but they lower prices and put big "Price Rollback" tags on the shelves. Then they gradually raise the price back up over weeks or months, 5 cents, 11 cents, 9 cents at a time, then put the price back where it was and tag it "Price Rollback!" Eventually, they roll it back 10 or 15 cents higher than the last time, and that's how they raise prices over time.

 

[purbeast0]

When I was in Grand Cayman last week the food prices there were ridiculous. They were noticeably more expensive than in the states. And their prices are in CI, which $1 CI = $1.25 USD. So we actually paid 25% more for everything on top of the already expensive prices. I remember seeing bananas were like $.89/lb, whiich would be like $1.15 or so in USD. I usually get bananas for $.49/lb, so that was more than double the price. Sun Block was like $15 - $20. 2 liter sodas were like $5.25. Everything was just really expensive there.

The one thing that wasn't too bad was milk. It was $1.99 CI for a half gallon, so like $2.50 USD.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

When I was in Grand Cayman last week the food prices there were ridiculous. They were noticeably more expensive than in the states. And their prices are in CI, which $1 CI = $1.25 USD. So we actually paid 25% more for everything on top of the already expensive prices. I remember seeing bananas were like $.89/lb, whiich would be like $1.15 or so in USD. I usually get bananas for $.49/lb, so that was more than double the price. Sun Block was like $15 - $20. 2 liter sodas were like $5.25. Everything was just really expensive there.

The one thing that wasn't too bad was milk. It was $1.99 CI for a half gallon, so like $2.50 USD.

What part of being on an island don't you understand?

 

[purbeast0]

What part of being on an island don't you understand?

Nothing, u?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Nothing, u?

EVERYTHING is brought by ship in lots purchased by a factor. It not only affects availability, it puts another layer of business between the retail seller and the manufacturer. Thus, costs will always be higher than what you're used to.

 

[purbeast0]

EVERYTHING is brought by ship in lots purchased by a factor. It not only affects availability, it puts another layer of business between the retail seller and the manufacturer. Thus, costs will always be higher than what you're used to.

 

[Pulsar]

I think his point is that your price comparisons really don't make any sense - we're comparing now verses a year or to ago. You're throwing out prices from Antartica....

The nice thing about Walmart is that they have the price per unit marked on most of their foods. I chuckled when I went to buy a family size bag of Doritos though. It didn't have the price per unit.... so I did the math myself and found that the 'family' size was more expensive per unit than a normal size bag. Taco Salad is soooo good.