Grocery Surprises, What's Got Your Goat With High Price?

[Rod Hagen]

I've never ordered Uber Eats etc., I find it entitled and incomparable to my college years of occasional Chinese/Thai Food or Pizza deliveries.  And yet, hypocritically recently I have ordered Amazon Fresh.  It's much cheaper than my local grocery Chain, and the only disappointment was the peaches and nectarines, understandably because those are very individual items.  I feel dirty (but full).

[CuriousByNature]

40 minutes ago, Rod Hagen said:

 the only disappointment was the peaches and nectarines, understandably because those are very individual items.  I feel dirty (but full).

I always wash the produce before eating it, and have never felt dirty afterward.

[mike carey]

8 minutes ago, CuriousByNature said:

I always wash the produce before eating it, and have never felt dirty afterward.

Some people have a stronger aversion to the merchant, or to the modes of production than to the innate properties of the things they buy, and that may be the source of their discomfort with their purchase.

[+ sync]

While I knew it was coming, there was still some sticker shock.

I ordered groceries this afternoon, and the total bill came to just over twice the usual.

Has anyone else here experienced the cold shower?

                                                    

                                    

[+ Italiano]

We ALL knew it was coming....

[maninsoma]

I'm not denying that prices have increased on most things, but I am saying that it is important to check prices at various stores if you don't already do so.  The big grocery chain near me (Safeway) increased their prices early on in the pandemic and have continued to do so.  Every once in a while they actually offer something at a sale price that's truly a deal, but frequently now their sale prices are just what other stores with the same items charge every day.  For just one example, I just searched for potatoes on Safeway, Target and Amazon.  Safeway's price for a 5-lb bag of russet potatoes: $4.99.  Target's price: $2.99.  Amazon's price: $2.49 (free same day delivery but requires $25 minimum spend).  Looking at bleach, Chlorox brand is $1 less at Target and about $2 less at Amazon than at Safeway, though the Amazon price requires ordering over $50 of "Fresh" items to get it delivered for free.  Yes, there are store brands available at both Target and Safeway that bring their prices down to the price of Chlorox at Amazon.  At any rate, my point is simply that some businesses have used the past few years to try to train their customers to think that everything really just has gone up in price significantly, sometimes double or more, and to just pay what they are asking versus looking around to realize that inflation, while bad, hasn't been as bad as that.  The same thing has happened with pharmacy chains.  Decades ago Walgreens used to be the most affordable place for most things Over The Counter and now everything is significantly overpriced there.

[samhexum]

My favorite store (for several reasons, including that it's usually the cheapest) is next to the medical complex where all my doctors are so doctor appt days are usually shopping days but it's 25 minutes from me so I only go there on non-appointment days if the circular is particularly fruitful.  Otherwise I have a three-store grouping ten minutes from me that I monitor the circulars of for quick trips for sale items.

Other than soda I have been able to keep prices fairly steady because I shop often enough to almost never have to buy anything not on sale.

[samhexum]

We checked prices at NYC grocery stores for six months. Here’s what we found. - Gothamist

GOTHAMIST.COM

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Without official data, tracking prices is more art than science. But still, there were some clear trends.

 

[samhexum]

I've noticed eggs, chicken, & soda have all been a bit cheaper recently.

 

[+ sniper]

Chicken and eggs had been high specifically due to avian flu wiping out large swaths of the population and I think there were multiple outbreaks. It just took time for the population to rebound.

[mike carey]

In a case that has been simmering ('unintended' cooking pun) for some time, today the Federal Court handed down its judgment on a false and misleading advertising case against one of the two big supermarket chains here. Penalties are expected to be substantial. There is a parallel investigation into the practices of the other big chain.

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/court-finds-that-coles-misled-customers-over-down-down-claims

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c202159x6x3o

https://theconversation.com/coles-discounts-misled-shoppers-court-rules-it-could-face-hundreds-of-millions-in-fines-282855

[+ FrankR]

3 hours ago, mike carey said:

In a case that has been simmering ('unintended' cooking pun) for some time, today the Federal Court handed down its judgment on a false and misleading advertising case against one of the two big supermarket chains here. Penalties are expected to be substantial. There is a parallel investigation into the practices of the other big chain.

https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/court-finds-that-coles-misled-customers-over-down-down-claims

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c202159x6x3o

https://theconversation.com/coles-discounts-misled-shoppers-court-rules-it-could-face-hundreds-of-millions-in-fines-282855

It took me a minute to realize that the Woolworths in Australia was not related to the stores by the same name in the UK, Africa or USA. They are all separate and unrelated even if they share the same name… 🤓

[mike carey]

11 minutes ago, FrankR said:

It took me a minute to realize that the Woolworths in Australia was not related to the stores by the same name in the UK, Africa or USA. They are all separate and unrelated even if they share the same name… 🤓

Indeed it is, I hadn't even thought to comment on that as the company was mentioned in some of the attachments, not what I had written. Some people here would have been aware of Woolworths RSA as it had owned the main Sydney-based department store (David Jones) for a while (and lost heavily). It apparently still owns Country Road, an Australian fashion brand.

[marylander1940]

Buy products on sale. 

I doubt prices will ever come down though....

[Lotus-eater]

14 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

Buy products on sale. 

I doubt prices will ever come down though....