Pantry Watch Update for week ending 9/3/2022
In last week’s update, I reported that the Great Value Baking Mix, 40 oz box, had decreased from $3.74 to $2.50. This turned out to be a temporary aberration in pricing. This product has now increased back to $3.74, canceling the entire price decrease.
Large white eggs have increased from $2.19 per dozen to $2.42, a 10% increase. One reader last week observed that the eggs selling as “large” now appear to be what was selling as “medium” at the start of the year, so their may also be “shrinkflation” at work here.
The large 64 ounce Great Value peanut butter tubs are still out of stock for the second week, both locally and online. Also, the Great Value cornmeal, which is only sold in 5lb bags, has been out of stock for over a month.
One reason I monitor mostly the lowest-priced brands is that when there is a pinch in supplies, the cheap brands suffer first. Distributors of more expensive brands can pay more for their raw materials, so they get “first dibs” on limited supplies. Following this line of thought, the cornmeal and peanut butter stock issues suggest that there is either an extraordinary supply pinch on those resources or abnormally high demand for those products.
Beef continues to be very low-priced locally, with ground beef, for example, at $2.99/lb.
Chicken quarters, drumsticks, and thighs are “on sale” locally this week for 99 cents/pound (regular 1.69/lb), a significant increase over last year, when we could buy these products for 69-89 cents at regular price. Last September I purchased chicken leg quarters for 49 cents/lb on sale. Chicken meat, therefore, remains at double or more of last year’s prices and is showing no signs of decreasing in my local area.
The video update will be available tomorrow, with some extra commentary and observations. Grandkids are here today, and attempts at recording are futile when they are in the house. 🙂 Besides, the grandkids are more interesting.
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