NFriday wrote:I was at the Whole Foods in downtown Evanston today, and they had California olive ranch olive oil on sale 30% off. It was the olive oil that was only 10% from the state of California that was on sale. The 100% California olive oil was $20 a bottle. California Olive Ranch olive oil is loved by Cook's Illustrated.

Great olive oil in my opinion but only the 100% California, which carries the COOC (California Olive Oil Council) certification. The blends are very much different.

U.S. Wholesale Inflation Fell Last Month on Lower Food Costs

From January to February, the government’s producer price index fell 0.1%, after a 0.3% rise from December to January, which was revised sharply lower. Compared with a year ago, wholesale prices rose 4.6%, a big drop from the 5.7% annual increase in January.

A significant driver of last month's wholesale inflation slowdown was a huge drop in the prices of eggs, which plummeted 36.1% just in February. Egg prices had previously surged after a widespread outbreak of avian flu.

=R=

Grocery prices finally dipped in March, falling for the first time since September 2020, according to data released Wednesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Of six major grocery food group indexes, three fell from February to March. The meats, poultry, fish and eggs index fell 1.4%, pulled down by another month of large decreases in egg prices.

Fruits and vegetable prices fell 1.3%, and dairy products ticked down 0.1%. The other indexes, for non-alcoholic beverages, cereals and bakery products and all other groceries, went up.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/12/business ... 1382466357

Menard's on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville has 32-oz jars of Duke's mayonnaise on sale for $3.00 (effectively $2.67 with the 11% rebate).

There *were* 16-oz jars of chicken Better than Bouillon for $3 too, but I took the last two jars (sorry-not-sorry).

tjr wrote:Yeah, I used to regularly get a Personalized Price of 50 cents for Signature Select pasta. It was also sometimes a coupon or sale item for that price.
The genuine Italian pasta that all the smaller chains (Butera, Caputo's, Shop n Save, Tonys, Valli, etc) used to sell for 99 cents or sometimes a little less has gone way up. I used to buy a lot of the Granoro 500 gram packages. A little cheaper and made 2 meals for 3 eaters, where a pound was a little skimpy.

Soaring pasta prices caused a crisis in Italy. What can the U.S. learn from it?

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/18/11767141 ... food-costs

My pretend friends in Svalbard also quibble about food costs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQjk5DIkJSI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiuwpReEPOg

Cathy2 wrote:My pretend friends in Svalbard also quibble about food costs:

So do Hawaiians. Comes with the (remote) territory. We have close family in Sweden and we try to make it over there at least every other year, if not more frequently. On our last visit late last summer their grocery prices appeared to be much like ours. So prices in major cities are less shocking. As an aside, I love visiting grocery stores when we're out of the country (much to my wife's frustration) and I always stop by the salty snacks to see what the flavor trends are. We drove through Eastern Europe about 10 years ago and the prevailing trend at the time was roasted chicken flavor potato chips. Grateful that they never made it here.

I was at Whole Foods at Green Bay yesterday, and their 16 ounce bottle of 365 peanut butter that was $2.49 a month ago, is now $3.49.

NFriday wrote: I was at Whole Foods at Green Bay yesterday, and their 16 ounce bottle of 365 peanut butter that was $2.49 a month ago, is now $3.49.

{sigh}

pudgym29 wrote: [from last week's Weekly Flyer post] Three stores are offering a deal on 16.3-oz. of peanut butter [Allergen alert: Processed in a facility that processes peanuts.]: Angelo Caputo and Jewel are selling Peter Pan or Jif for $2.99. Tony's purveys Skippy for $2.50.

Peanut butter is a commodity. Brands sold in "upscale" grocery chains are no different than the brands listed above. They just cost more.

I much prefer natural peanut butter, which is super expensive in most stores such as Smuckers. I might buy it at Trader Joe's next time. All of the peanut butters you have listed have hydrogenated oil added to them so the oil does not separate, and they aren't as good for you. Smuckers is usually $4.00, and is rarely on sale. I bought natural peanut butter at Aldi's once, but I did not care for it, and the organic one there is $4.

NFriday wrote:I much prefer natural peanut butter, which is super expensive in most stores such as Smuckers. I might buy it at Trader Joe's next time. All of the peanut butters you have listed have hydrogenated oil added to them so the oil does not separate, and they aren't as good for you. Smuckers is usually $4.00, and is rarely on sale. I bought natural peanut butter at Aldi's once, but I did not care for it, and the organic one there is $4.

Best price on Smuckers Natural is at Walmart. My wife lives by the stuff.

Costco has a Kirkland natural peanut butter. I think it is two jars. It is pretty good. You could find someone to split it with you, so a jar a piece. I'll be there tomorrow to check prices here in Cherry City, aka Salem Oregon.

Xexo wrote:Costco has a Kirkland natural peanut butter. I think it is two jars. It is pretty good. You could find someone to split it with you, so a jar a piece. I'll be there tomorrow to check prices here in Cherry City, aka Salem Oregon.

I buy the Kirkland regularly. It is a 2-pack. Each jar is 28 oz. I would say the pb is on the thinner side of natural peanut butters even with stirring rigorously from the bottom. This works well for my purposes which is mostly filling & freezing Kongs for the dog.

LynnB wrote:

Xexo wrote:Costco has a Kirkland natural peanut butter. I think it is two jars. It is pretty good. You could find someone to split it with you, so a jar a piece. I'll be there tomorrow to check prices here in Cherry City, aka Salem Oregon.

I buy the Kirkland regularly. It is a 2-pack. Each jar is 28 oz. I would say the pb is on the thinner side of natural peanut butters even with stirring rigorously from the bottom. This works well for my purposes which is mostly filling & freezing Kongs for the dog.

Thank you Miss B. It is miss, isn't it?

Some times (most times?) Costco has Adam's peanut butter in an 80 ounce jar. I keep the natural peanut butters in the fridge, which seems to stop the separation

Xexo wrote:

LynnB wrote:

Xexo wrote:Costco has a Kirkland natural peanut butter. I think it is two jars. It is pretty good. You could find someone to split it with you, so a jar a piece. I'll be there tomorrow to check prices here in Cherry City, aka Salem Oregon.

I buy the Kirkland regularly. It is a 2-pack. Each jar is 28 oz. I would say the pb is on the thinner side of natural peanut butters even with stirring rigorously from the bottom. This works well for my purposes which is mostly filling & freezing Kongs for the dog.

Thank you Miss B. It is miss, isn't it?

Not sure what my marital status could have to do with Costco peanut butter. Please explain.

LynnB wrote:

Xexo wrote:

LynnB wrote:

Xexo wrote:Costco has a Kirkland natural peanut butter. I think it is two jars. It is pretty good. You could find someone to split it with you, so a jar a piece. I'll be there tomorrow to check prices here in Cherry City, aka Salem Oregon.

I buy the Kirkland regularly. It is a 2-pack. Each jar is 28 oz. I would say the pb is on the thinner side of natural peanut butters even with stirring rigorously from the bottom. This works well for my purposes which is mostly filling & freezing Kongs for the dog.

Thank you Miss B. It is miss, isn't it?

Not sure what my marital status could have to do with Costco peanut butter. Please explain.

I try to show respect to people on-line by referring to them as Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. Oddly enough some men take offense at being addressed as Miss, Mrs., or Ms. And the reverse is true. Some women take offense at being addressed as Mr., or Miss, if they are married, etc.

My apologizes for any offense I caused. While it wasn't my intent, I guess I offended you with my poor attempt at trying to find the correct honorific to use. Again, my apologizes.

"The Real Reason Your Groceries Are Getting So Expensive"
(Consolidation and big box retail using their market power to make everyone else make up for their discounts)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/29/opin ... lmart.html

Outer skirt steak was $18.99/lb, and (choice) NY Strip was $14.99/lb at HarvesTime

Good news for lovers of cheese sandwiches and other uses for pedestrian cheese: $2.69/lb cheeses have returned to Woodmans! (Kenosha and Buffalo Grove locations for sure) Weyauwega sub-1lb pieces in Colby, Mild & Medium Cheddar, Diamond Marble and Pepper Jack.

Cheese prices overall seem to be falling. $1.49 half pounders at Butera, $2.99 muenster & provolone at Montrose, etc. Hoping for the return of cheap Polish cheeses and Wisconsin blues.

tjr wrote:Good news for lovers of cheese sandwiches and other uses for pedestrian cheese: $2.69/lb cheeses have returned to Woodmans! (Kenosha and Buffalo Grove locations for sure) Weyauwega sub-1lb pieces in Colby, Mild & Medium Cheddar, Diamond Marble and Pepper Jack.

Cheese prices overall seem to be falling. $1.49 half pounders at Butera, $2.99 muenster & provolone at Montrose, etc. Hoping for the return of cheap Polish cheeses and Wisconsin blues.

Good news.
For quite a while, the 2# block of Kirkland sharp cheddar ($8.00) was our everyday go to. Then the price went up, close to $14-15.
We currently buy the 2# Lucerne in the $10 ballpark.

In the last week or so, Safeway was advertising 2# blocks of the Lucerne cheddar for $4.99 and the 8 oz blocks for $0.97. The local Kroger affiliate was charging $0.99/ 8 oz.

=========================

Personally, I am making out like a bandit this week on all of the markdowns.

2.5# Krogers Italian sausage links for $3.20 (markdown plus $1 digital coupon)

4 bags of assorted salad mixes at 99c each at 99 Only (in name only) located in a heavy Hispanic area where no customers buy that stuff.

2# of Primo Honey baked ham for 0.90/ lb with senior discount

Evil Ronnie wrote:We currently buy the 2# Lucerne in the $10 ballpark.

Woodman's has 2# blocks of Weyauwega mild cheddar for $6 (a slightly worse deal than the smaller pieces but better packaging.) Keep it for a year and it's sharp. That Lucerne cheddar is very good, though, well flavored and creamy. And perhaps the $4.99 sale price will make its return here too.

Jewel had all of their Lucerne cheese for $1.99 for eight ounces recently, and I had some $1 off Flavor Adventure coupons for the sliced cheese, and so I bought three packages of the sliced cheese for $.99 each.

Anyone know of any good prices anywhere on brisket?
With the holidays coming up, I'd love to do some, but can't handle the price of most
E

Hi,

I recently bought a bottle of ketchup. I was surprised by the cost. I cannot recall the last time I bought any.

Regards,
Cathy2

irisarbor wrote:Anyone know of any good prices anywhere on brisket?
With the holidays coming up, I'd love to do some, but can't handle the price of most
E

I don't know what they're currently charging but Costco is usually at the bottom of the price range for brisket. Last time I was there, they had prime (packers cut) and choice (flats). I cannot remember exact pricing. I didn't buy.

=R=

irisarbor wrote:Anyone know of any good prices anywhere on brisket?
With the holidays coming up, I'd love to do some, but can't handle the price of most
E

Sam's Club is $4/lb for choice and $5/lb for prime. I'm guessing Costco would be in the same ballpark. For non clubs, Gordon Food Service has them for $4.50/lb for choice.

I was at the Wilmette Jewel on Green Bay last night, and they had all of their Cabot cheese 2/$5. I love their cheese. I don't know if this price was just at the Jewel or not.

At Jerry's today, green onions were 98 cents for a bunch of six. I usually depend on Jerry's for three bunches for a dollar.

While I was at Aldi's, I did not think to check their green onion prices. Usually, lately, it is 10 green onions for 79 cents.

Regards,
Cathy2

From BBC News: France's Carrefour puts up 'shrinkflation' warning signs

"French supermarket Carrefour has put stickers on its shelves this week warning shoppers of "shrinkflation" - where packet contents are getting smaller while prices are not. Lipton Ice Tea, Lindt chocolate and Viennetta ice cream are among the products being named and shamed. Shoppers are being told if bottles are smaller or pack contents lighter. Carrefour said it wanted to put pressure on the firms making the products to keep prices down."

More on the web page linked.