Grocery Store-What are you paying for food? (1 Viewer)

[FairWarning]

"Egg prices have skyrocketed over the last year, reaching historic highs, and wholesale shoppers like small businesses were paying over $8 for a dozen eggs last week. According to the latest USDA report, released Friday, the national average wholesale price has dropped slightly to $6.85 per dozen. However, many grocery stores sell their eggs at a loss to get customers in the door, bringing the average retail price of a dozen eggs to just over $5."

Grocery stores aren't going to keep absorbing those losses forever. Bend over, I guess.

$70,000 more a year for eggs: How price hikes are hurting small businesses

As egg prices continue to skyrocket, small businesses grapple with how to avoid passing on the increase to their customers.

abc7.com

Sure they will. What’s $1-2 if the shopper has a cart full of other items? Stores play this game with milk all the time.

 

[Zeppelin]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Price gouging at its finest.

 

[the moops]

50 cent surcharge for any egg in a dish at a local place

 

[NutterButter]

50 cent surcharge for any egg in a dish at a local place

Would be funny to start seeing that on checks.

 

[fatness]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Cal-Maine has already had to pay $53 million for price-gouging. Apparently they can afford the fine and just consider it the cost of doing business.

 

[MAC_32]

Grocery tab the last 2 weeks has been ~$75 each. We have pasta + italian sausage and a salad on tap for tonight, burgers dogs & fries tomorrow, chicken carrots & potatoes Tues, shrimp & asparagus on Wed, and enough for all to pack lunches for the week.

 

[Instinctive]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Cal-Maine has already had to pay $53 million for price-gouging. Apparently they can afford the fine and just consider it the cost of doing business.

They're publicly traded. If you can't grow profits, either through margin or volume, you get ousted as Board and/or executives.

 

[Desert_Power]

"Egg prices have skyrocketed over the last year, reaching historic highs, and wholesale shoppers like small businesses were paying over $8 for a dozen eggs last week. According to the latest USDA report, released Friday, the national average wholesale price has dropped slightly to $6.85 per dozen. However, many grocery stores sell their eggs at a loss to get customers in the door, bringing the average retail price of a dozen eggs to just over $5."

Grocery stores aren't going to keep absorbing those losses forever. Bend over, I guess.

$70,000 more a year for eggs: How price hikes are hurting small businesses

As egg prices continue to skyrocket, small businesses grapple with how to avoid passing on the increase to their customers.

abc7.com

Did not know that about eggs were a loss leader for stores.

 

[fatness]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Cal-Maine has already had to pay $53 million for price-gouging. Apparently they can afford the fine and just consider it the cost of doing business.

They're publicly traded. If you can't grow profits, either through margin or volume, you get ousted as Board and/or executives.

If they can't make a profit without price gouging how good a company are they?

 

[Instinctive]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Cal-Maine has already had to pay $53 million for price-gouging. Apparently they can afford the fine and just consider it the cost of doing business.

They're publicly traded. If you can't grow profits, either through margin or volume, you get ousted as Board and/or executives.

If they can't make a profit without price gouging how good a company are they?

I think maybe you missed my point. It doesn't matter if they're a good company. The incentive is to do crap like this so they don't get ousted.

 

[kupcho1]

Farm raised fish that dine on their own excrement? Gross.

Agreed.
As a longtime subscriber to your newsletter, I'm interested in your thoughts on eating rabbit.
I'll hang up and listen.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Grocery tab the last 2 weeks has been ~$75 each. We have pasta + italian sausage and a salad on tap for tonight, burgers dogs & fries tomorrow, chicken carrots & potatoes Tues, shrimp & asparagus on Wed, and enough for all to pack lunches for the week.

It took me a while to describe the posts I see when you come in here, I finally found JoAnn York's 1976 classic novel

Amazon.com

"How I Feed my family on $16 a Week (and Have Meat, Fish or Poultry on the Table Every Night) "

 

[MAC_32]

Grocery tab the last 2 weeks has been ~$75 each. We have pasta + italian sausage and a salad on tap for tonight, burgers dogs & fries tomorrow, chicken carrots & potatoes Tues, shrimp & asparagus on Wed, and enough for all to pack lunches for the week.

It took me a while to describe the posts I see when you come in here, I finally found JoAnn York's 1976 classic novel

Amazon.com

"How I Feed my family on $16 a Week (and Have Meat, Fish or Poultry on the Table Every Night) "

I'll paraphrase something I said stream of consciously on the back deck after a few pops this past summer:

We learned to live cash poor out of necessity and realized there are some societal habits that just aren't important to us. Once we were no longer cash poor, some of those habits stuck anyway. We don't value nice vehicles, outright don't want a big house, and prefer our easy weekday meals also be cheap. When we eat well, we want to eat REAL well. Sometimes, but not usually, that's home cooked, but rather we go out at least once most weeks. We almost always go local and rarely get something that we make at home. We carry these habits on the road for vacation. We cook at least half of those nights and lightly graze on pre-packed healthy foods during the day, but when we do go out? Well, there's a reason you had lobster something every night we want out in New England last summer. There's also a reason we still live in this house that's too small for us in the winter. There aren't going to be 5 humans here much longer, we have plenty of space to entertain many outside, and we want a lake house. Those things are important to us. To facilitate instead of spending ~$10 / day on coffee, we spend ~$0.50. When beef prices are up, we don't buy it. When bird flu wreaks havoc on egg products, we pivot to beans / lentils / tuna / etc. Are we paying more at the store now than we did ~3 years ago? Yeah, but revisiting our budget history it's less than 10% and that is despite you guys being aged 9-14 now vs 6-11 before.

The grocery store is not the budget killer it's being made out to be, and if it is, it is usually because of lack of adaptability. I don't imagine there are many FBG's in food deserts and those in high priced areas probably have a corresponding job to fund it. Cold hard truth is people just like to complain.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Grocery tab the last 2 weeks has been ~$75 each. We have pasta + italian sausage and a salad on tap for tonight, burgers dogs & fries tomorrow, chicken carrots & potatoes Tues, shrimp & asparagus on Wed, and enough for all to pack lunches for the week.

It took me a while to describe the posts I see when you come in here, I finally found JoAnn York's 1976 classic novel

Amazon.com

"How I Feed my family on $16 a Week (and Have Meat, Fish or Poultry on the Table Every Night) "

I'll paraphrase something I said stream of consciously on the back deck after a few pops this past summer:

We learned to live cash poor out of necessity and realized there are some societal habits that just aren't important to us. Once we were no longer cash poor, some of those habits stuck anyway. We don't value nice vehicles, outright don't want a big house, and prefer our easy weekday meals also be cheap. When we eat well, we want to eat REAL well. Sometimes, but not usually, that's home cooked, but rather we go out at least once most weeks. We almost always go local and rarely get something that we make at home. We carry these habits on the road for vacation. We cook at least half of those nights and lightly graze on pre-packed healthy foods during the day, but when we do go out? Well, there's a reason you had lobster something every night we want out in New England last summer. There's also a reason we still live in this house that's too small for us in the winter. There aren't going to be 5 humans here much longer, we have plenty of space to entertain many outside, and we want a lake house. Those things are important to us. To facilitate instead of spending ~$10 / day on coffee, we spend ~$0.50. When beef prices are up, we don't buy it. When bird flu wreaks havoc on egg products, we pivot to beans / lentils / tuna / etc. Are we paying more at the store now than we did ~3 years ago? Yeah, but revisiting our budget history it's less than 10% and that is despite you guys being aged 9-14 now vs 6-11 before.

The grocery store is not the budget killer it's being made out to be, and if it is, it is usually because of lack of adaptability. I don't imagine there are many FBG's in food deserts and those in high priced areas probably have a corresponding job to fund it. Cold hard truth is people just like to complain.

Everything but the last paragraph, I love your backstory.
I live in South Florida and the food quality is poor, seafood abundant but you're gonna pay for it.
I do think groceries are a killer for many and I agree with you, inability to adapt is a good part of it.
But be honest, do you really think most folks know how to take a whole chicken and cook it in dutch oven, eat and remove all the meat, then take the bones and make chicken soup?
That's what people did 50-75 years ago and very few do that these days
Also when Man/Woman had different roles in the home, nowadays both parents tend to work full time jobs, there's no time for most of them to cook the old fashion way
Most groceries that people buy are somehow processed into a form they can use/cook with, adds to the cost
People have a right to complain about their grocery prices, lots more than eggs have risen

-You know i try and point out where things are significantly cheaper, that's why I highlight Fresh Market and their Tuesday Meat deals, among the best I've seen
I feel bad for folks struggling to make ends meet right now and food has a lot to do with it.
My mother in law is on a fixed income of mostly just social security, she's 70 yrs old so any price increases she feels.

 

[MAC_32]

But be honest, do you really think most folks know how to take a whole chicken and cook it in dutch oven, eat and remove all the meat, then take the bones and make chicken soup?

Of course most don't, but that's due to the lack of adaptability mentioned before. Like most things - fast, good, cheap - you can only have 2 of those and most people choose the first 2. For weekday meals, we start off with cheap, then pivot to fast or good depending on that day / weeks events. Ultimately, it's not difficult to learn how to make chicken soup - don't need to check youtube to know there's 20 how-to video's a click away. Doing so takes effort though.

Also when Man/Woman had different roles in the home, nowadays both parents tend to work full time jobs, there's no time for most of them to cook the old fashion way

Again, this is generally a case of adaptability. My wife and I both have full time jobs. I coach at least 2 teams each season. Countless other volunteer events. I got talked into a side gig this weekend. And while I lost my ways for a while, I've been much better about getting in a workout almost every day this calendar year. We all leave the house before 7 am most days and it's not often we're all home before 8 pm, sometimes later. We have some sorta home cooked meal Mon, Tues, and Wed every week and usually Thu too. Depending on the week, sometimes that meal is prepped on Sunday so all we have to do during the week is prep it, other times it's all done that night. Since we make it a priority, and prepare, we make it work. Cold hard truth is most others choose not to.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

But be honest, do you really think most folks know how to take a whole chicken and cook it in dutch oven, eat and remove all the meat, then take the bones and make chicken soup?

Of course most don't, but that's due to the lack of adaptability mentioned before. Like most things - fast, good, cheap - you can only have 2 of those and most people choose the first 2. For weekday meals, we start off with cheap, then pivot to fast or good depending on that day / weeks events. Ultimately, it's not difficult to learn how to make chicken soup - don't need to check youtube to know there's 20 how-to video's a click away. Doing so takes effort though.

Also when Man/Woman had different roles in the home, nowadays both parents tend to work full time jobs, there's no time for most of them to cook the old fashion way

Again, this is generally a case of adaptability. My wife and I both have full time jobs. I coach at least 2 teams each season. Countless other volunteer events. I got talked into a side gig this weekend. And while I lost my ways for a while, I've been much better about getting in a workout almost every day this calendar year. We all leave the house before 7 am most days and it's not often we're all home before 8 pm, sometimes later. We have some sorta home cooked meal Mon, Tues, and Wed every week and usually Thu too. Depending on the week, sometimes that meal is prepped on Sunday so all we have to do during the week is prep it, other times it's all done that night. Since we make it a priority, and prepare, we make it work. Cold hard truth is most others choose not to.

Sunday Prep in MoP's Kitchen
I gotta get this show up off the ground in my house

-I eat out at restaurants mostly necessity and I will explain. Mrs and I are both WFH, she is a lot more intense than I am, she is on wall to wall Zoom and the like ALL DAY
We don't even have time to go out together and have a nice lunch, I usually go out and bring back something, I'll say Thai Food because they have an incredible lunch special
Most of my lunches tend to be late afternoon bar/grill type spots where I can still get the lunch menu and fill up so dinner is usually snacks like wine/cheese or stove top popcorn
We use coconut oil and a wok pan with deep sides all around, tastes better than the movies and don't need much butter at all.

Breakfast of late has been a push back to when we drank a lot of smoothies around here with bananas and frozen berries, much cheaper than grabbing those out
I brew almost every cup of coffee I drink at this point, not as cheaply as you do but I'm at around 75 cents a cup.
I like a 2 fried egg sandwich with a little sharp cheddar on whatever leftover bread I have laying around, that's another one I like in the house around lunch/brunch time

My next project is the crock pot, I'm sure I am missing out on savings with that
Living below your means is an art we practiced in our house for a long time.
I tell youngsters when they get that first decent job/pay in their 20s, live below your means for 5-10 years and you can live like a King the rest of your life

Our biggest issue right now is the Kitchen, the overhead on the oven which is actually a microwave has been OUT now for longer than I care to share so anytime we cook up meats and especially burgers or steaks, the whole house reeks, just lazy and have been slow to hire someone to fix it.

 

[The Z Machine]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Cal-Maine has already had to pay $53 million for price-gouging. Apparently they can afford the fine and just consider it the cost of doing business.

They're publicly traded. If you can't grow profits, either through margin or volume, you get ousted as Board and/or executives.

Now do the tech and meme stocks.

 

[Sleestak]

I switched late January from a $15 retail lunch to bringing in a bread loaf, PB, and jelly and having a $2 sammich. Not because of the cost, but rather because I'm a Fed working at a place without enough parking. We went full RTO on Feb 10 (DOD lab). Don't want to lost that spot!

 

[the moops]

5.99 for pasture raised organic eggs.
8.79 for generic Cub Foods brand eggs.

Didn't buy cause Trader Joes has theirs for like 3.79

 

[Ministry of Pain]

5.99 for pasture raised organic eggs.
8.79 for generic Cub Foods brand eggs.

Didn't buy cause Trader Joes has theirs for like 3.79

Just got back from the grocery store
Lots of $4.99 cage free white dozen, the entire egg case was packed
Still had the blue ones at about $10 a dozen but $5 for the normal ones isn't too bad, less than 50 cents an egg, 2 egg sammich $1 at home, that's how you get ahead

-I still buy the blue ones, shhhhh

 

[Zeppelin]

5.99 for pasture raised organic eggs.
8.79 for generic Cub Foods brand eggs.

Didn't buy cause Trader Joes has theirs for like 3.79

Just got back from the grocery store
Lots of $4.99 cage free white dozen, the entire egg case was packed
Still had the blue ones at about $10 a dozen but $5 for the normal ones isn't too bad, less than 50 cents an egg, 2 egg sammich $1 at home, that's how you get ahead

-I still buy the blue ones, shhhhh

They are $5.09 at Meijer in metro Detroit and have been for a while.

 

[General Malaise]

Wild caught mahi mahi $5.99/Lb at Fred Meyer (Kroger). Holy moly that's a steal! Loading up!

 

[Chemical X]

Farm raised fish that dine on their own excrement? Gross.

Agreed.
As a longtime subscriber to your newsletter, I'm interested in your thoughts on eating rabbit.
I'll hang up and listen.

reminds me…i was strolling the ipermarket yesterday and came across the baby food space. they had jarred (think gerber) coniglio/rabbit in italian. think of the lucky baby that gets a jar of rabbit! barf

 

[fatness]

reminds me…i was strolling the ipermarket yesterday and came across the baby food space. they had jarred (think gerber) coniglio/rabbit in italian. think of the lucky baby that gets a jar of rabbit! barf

It made me what I am today!

 

[Chemical X]

reminds me…i was strolling the ipermarket yesterday and came across the baby food space. they had jarred (think gerber) coniglio/rabbit in italian. think of the lucky baby that gets a jar of rabbit! barf

It made me what I am today!

name checks out

 

[Doug B]

There’s a famous long palindrome I often think about when reading fatness’ posts:

Doc, note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.

 

[fatness]

There’s a famous long palindrome I often think about when reading fatness’ posts:

Doc, note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.

No sir, away, a papaya war is on!

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Egg prices are down in general over the last several weeks
That was inevitable, what I want to know is if the price of food is going to roll back on other items any time soon?
My guess is probably not

 

[Mitchie]

Egg prices are down in general over the last several weeks
That was inevitable, what I want to know is if the price of food is going to roll back on other items any time soon?
My guess is probably not

Not seeing a drop in egg prices where I'm at, just got back from both the Whole Foods and Star Market near me, Whole Foods was all out except for some premium eggs being sold by the 1/2 dozen for some ridiculous price and Star Market where' the prices weren't down at all. Actually came home empty handed and gonna try to hit up Trader Joes, even though it's out of the way for me. Prob not worth the extra hassle but don't like getting ripped off.

 

[Nugget]

Eggs down from $5.99 to $4.99 per dozen today (vs last week).

 

[the moops]

Eggs seem way dependent on which store. Trader Joe’s are back down to 3.50
or so, but damn Cub Foods, not a glamorous store at all, eggs are still 7 bucks or so. So weird.

 

[Doug B]

Egg prices are down in general over the last several weeks

Haven’t seen this locally. Local egg prices did seem to max out later than elsewhere, though.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Cal-Maine has already had to pay $53 million for price-gouging. Apparently they can afford the fine and just consider it the cost of doing business.

They're publicly traded. If you can't grow profits, either through margin or volume, you get ousted as Board and/or executives.

You’re right, but this business model is toxic in the long haul.

 

[fatness]

Eggs seem way dependent on which store. Trader Joe’s are back down to 3.50
or so, but damn Cub Foods, not a glamorous store at all, eggs are still 7 bucks or so. So weird.

I depends on
1. their supplier -- some suppliers are hit much harder than others
2. how much the store wants to cut their profit or take a loss.

 

[fatness]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Cal-Maine has already had to pay $53 million for price-gouging. Apparently they can afford the fine and just consider it the cost of doing business.

They're publicly traded. If you can't grow profits, either through margin or volume, you get ousted as Board and/or executives.

You’re right, but this business model is toxic in the long haul.

You and I see lower prices as the main goal. Instinctive apparently sees making a profit as the main goal. It's just a disagreement about what's more important.

 

[pollardsvision]

Yeah, finally saw egg prices slide back a little yesterday at Kroger. $7.39 for 18 when it has been for $8.89 throughout this.

 

[Instinctive]

Looks like not everyone is hurting. From the above linked article:

"While consumers, small businesses and their customers continue to shell out more for eggs amid the avian flu outbreak, the nation's largest producer and distributor of eggs has reported soaring profits.

Cal-Maine Foods, according to SEC filings, saw an over three-fold increase in their gross profits in their fiscal year 2023, at the dawn of the bird flu outbreak. And according to their most recent filing, their gross profits are up 342% through the second quarter of their fiscal year 2025 versus the previous fiscal year."

Cal-Maine has already had to pay $53 million for price-gouging. Apparently they can afford the fine and just consider it the cost of doing business.

They're publicly traded. If you can't grow profits, either through margin or volume, you get ousted as Board and/or executives.

You’re right, but this business model is toxic in the long haul.

You and I see lower prices as the main goal. Instinctive apparently sees making a profit as the main goal. It's just a disagreement about what's more important.

Nobody said anything about what's more important. I just explained the incentive. People act according to incentives.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Eggs seem way dependent on which store. Trader Joe’s are back down to 3.50
or so, but damn Cub Foods, not a glamorous store at all, eggs are still 7 bucks or so. So weird.

Good point, stores definitely vary, it's a complaint of mine when it comes to Florida, you have to try a little harder to avoid the Publix monopoly down here.
Yes we have other grocery stores and Wal-Mart but in many areas you will see 7-8 Publix grocery stores for every 1 TJs in an area and that TJs could be many many miles away

 

[Orange&Blue]

Just came back from Alsace region in france. Food was a lot cheaper as seen by eggs being 3 Euro for 18 eggs.

 

[fatness]

So we're importing more Brazilian eggs now. I think those are eggs with a special haircut.

The U.S. has almost doubled imports of Brazilian eggs once used only for pet food and is considering relaxing regulations for eggs laid by chickens raised for meat, as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to bring down sky-high prices spiked by bird flu. While none of the Brazilian or broiler chicken eggs would wind up on grocery shelves, they could be used in processed foods such as cake mixes, ice cream or salad dressing, freeing up more fresh eggs for shoppers.

U.S. egg imports from Brazil in February increased by 93% from a year earlier, the Brazilian Animal Protein Association said.

 

[ChiefD]

Love me some Brazilian chicks.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Love me some Brazilian chicks.

Why do the Brazilian eggs have slightly larger bottoms when you pull them up out of the carton?