- \n
- Our total basket price at Jewel-Osco was $282.95 this month, a $20.50 increase from last December\u2019s basket total of $262.45.<\/li>\n
- At Mariano\u2019s, our total was $18 higher than in December.<\/li>\n
- Our total at Target was up by $11.04 from December.<\/li>\n
- One bright spot was Walmart. While the store doesn\u2019t always have the exact items in stock, making it difficult to track monthly, the cost of our basket dipped by $4.56 since December \u2014 led by unusually low prices this month for bacon, butter and cheese.<\/li>\n
- Prices for diapers (up $3 at Jewel and Mariano\u2019s and $1.50 at Target), menstrual pads (up $2.50 at Jewel and $1 at Mariano\u2019s and Target) and coffee (up $2.50 at Jewel, Mariano\u2019s and Target) rose the most between December and this month.<\/li>\n
- Hot dogs, peanut M&Ms, ground beef, orange juice and deodorant also went up at most of the stores.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Consumers have endured years of stubbornly high grocery prices, which soared in June 2022 when inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1%.<\/p>\n
High grocery prices played an important role in the 2024 election, with then-candidate Donald Trump promising to get grocery prices down on \u201cday one.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Trump claimed \u201cgrocery prices are way down,\u201d but that\u2019s not the case, according to the latest Consumer Price Index. Average grocery prices in September were up 2.7% year over year and about 1.4% higher than they were in January.<\/p>\n
Of the 35 items the Sun-Times tracked at Jewel, 16 stayed the same price, 15 rose and four dropped over the past 12 months. At Mariano\u2019s, 17 items stayed the same price, 16 went up and 2 went down.<\/p>\n
Prices at Target and Walmart were more volatile over the past year. <\/p>\n
Since December, seven items at Target stayed the same price, 18 increased and 10 decreased. At Walmart, seven stayed even, 13 went up and 12 dropped, with three items that weren\u2019t listed online to consistently track.<\/p>\n
Shopping around<\/p>\n
Rosemarie Nowicki, who lives in Oak Park, shops at Walmart to stock up on staples for Sunday family dinners for her family of seven adult children, 25 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do a lot of shopping and cooking,\u201d Nowicki says.<\/p>\n
She watches prices carefully, saying they \u201cnever came down\u201d after the post-pandemic inflationary high. She says Walmart is significantly less expensive than other chains for almond milk, pasta, soup and diapers, items she buys regularly.<\/p>\n
Nowicki isn\u2019t changing her Thanksgiving menu of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie, but she is on the lookout for the lowest price on turkeys.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will check around and see who has it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Edmund Burke, a retired food broker who lives in Oak Brook, says he bypasses the big grocery chains in favor of Woodman\u2019s, a smaller Wisconsin-based grocer with a handful of suburban locations, including in Bloomingdale.<\/p>\n
The drive there takes him about 40 minutes, but he offsets that by filling up his car with $2.89-a-gallon gas at Woodman\u2019s gas station next door.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Retired food broker Edmund Burke looks over the green beans in the produce section of Woodman\u2019s supermarket.<\/p>\n
Stephanie Zimmermann\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n
He estimates a family buying a big cart of groceries could save $70 or $80 at the independent store, compared to better-known supermarkets. The one hassle is shoppers have to pay by cash or with a Discover credit card.<\/p>\n
On a recent trip, Burke found prices for bananas at 59 cents a pound, Cheerios for $3.69, a 32-ounce bottle of half-and-half cream for $2.69 and Skippy peanut butter for $2.69.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople struggling to feed their families \u2026 this could really help them,\u201d Burke says.<\/p>\n
Holidays \u2018looking grim\u2019<\/p>\n
Common Pantry Executive Director Margaret O\u2019Conor says higher prices at supermarkets combined with high housing costs, fewer jobs and missed payments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are pushing many families over the edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI liken it to another thousand cuts in an already gaping wound,\u201d O\u2019Conor says.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit food pantry served 3,544 people in October, up 21% year-over-year from 2,928 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are folks that have either never come to our pantry or to any pantry,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Quintonele Allen, a community health worker who lives in Homan Square, says she uses food pantries whenever she can get a ride, to supplement her grocery budget.<\/p>\n
Her neighborhood lacks big-box stores so she often relies on food deliveries from Walmart.<\/p>\n
Allen isn\u2019t planning to host big holiday gatherings this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, Thanksgiving is looking grim. With prices being high, I won\u2019t have family over because I can\u2019t afford to host, and due to my transportation barriers, I don\u2019t plan on visiting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Instead, she\u2019ll enjoy a small dinner for Thanksgiving and Christmas, when one of her daughters comes home from college for winter break.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Quintonele Allen has tried to keep costs down, picking up tips at healthy cooking demonstrations and meal prepping so she doesn\u2019t waste anything. But in recent months, food costs have become too pricey and she\u2019s opted to have a small Thanksgiving and Christmas gathering.<\/p>\n
Candace Dane Chambers\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n
Reasons for price hikes<\/p>\n
There are a number of reasons grocery prices tracked by the Sun-Times have increased in the past year. <\/p>\n
Analysts have blamed pricier beef, for example, on a combination of drought, low herd sizes and higher feed costs. For coffee, the culprit is poor harvests overseas. Price hikes for diapers and menstrual pads are blamed on inflation and higher costs for raw materials.<\/p>\n