Pandemic supply chain in your area

bykfixer

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Apples to apples I saved at least $10.
This evening we returned to the $1.25 store and bought Fiji water for $1.25 that was $1.33 in the grocery store, $1.25 for Eternal water that was $5 at the grocery store, my favorite brand of juice in flavors the grocery store doesn't carry like apple cranberry instead of cran-apple for $1.25 instead of $4+, mini tree ornaments we saw at Wally world for $3+ for $1.25.

Much of the suff in the place is 'get it while they have it' so it's not a constant source of stuff like Fiji water but I stocked up.
 

bykfixer

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Eggs went from $1.89 to $3.89 at my local grocery store in one week. This week $4.19 a dozen. And I don't mean the brown shell, spend the days at a ski resort eating gluton free organic food, packed in drop friendly carton eggs kind either. No, the cheap ones that were $0.89 a dozen in 2020.

It's only 35 cents per egg but still that's up to near cigarette prices. But so far no shrink-flation where you get 10 for your 35 cents per egg thing.

Did chickens unionize and demand pay raises? A 3# roaster was $12!! That's not even cut up. And no neckbone/gibletts/gizzards stuffed inside? No those are now sold separately. We did find a 4 pack of drumsticks for $2. Must be non union third world country chicken legs.... so a little lead to go with dinner perhaps? Sigh.

The good news, a 5 pack of Reeses peanut butter cups was $1.29. Now that's reduced in size, single cup, used to be 6 pack for $2.89 and now $3.89 for the 5 pack so I stocked up on those babies. And a pound of fake crab meat was $1.89 from $2.29. Love some fake crab meat.
 
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Poppy

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Eggs went from $1.89 to $3.89 at my local grocery store in one week. This week $4.19 a dozen. And I don't mean the brown shell, spend the days at a ski resort eating gluton free organic food, packed in drop friendly carton eggs kind either. No, the cheap ones that were $0.89 a dozen in 2020.

It's only 35 cents per egg but still that's up to near cigarette prices. But so far no shrink-flation where you get 10 for your 35 cents per egg thing.

Did chickens unionize and demand pay raises? A 3# roaster was $12!! That's not even cut up. And no neckbone/gibletts/gizzards stuffed inside? No those are now sold separately. We did find a 4 pack of drumsticks for $2. Must be non union third world country chicken legs.... so a little lead to go with dinner perhaps? Sigh.

The good news, a 5 pack of Reeses peanut butter cups was $1.29. Now that's reduced in size, single cup, used to be 6 pack for $2.89 and now $3.89 for the 5 pack so I stocked up on those babies. And a pound of fake crab meat was $1.89 from $2.29. Love some fake crab meat.
Good reporting Mr Fixer!

Shoprite, a large food chain in this area is holding the line on the cost of skinless boneless chicken breasts at $1.99 a pound. I was in there a few days ago, and they were bought out, but there was a good supply of boneless thighs at the same price.

I plan to go back today, and expect that they will have restocked. At least I hope so.
They had no Lactaid 1/2 and 1/2 the last couple of times I looked.

Eggs here are also expensive, but plentiful.
Plenty of frozen Pizza :)
 

PhotonWrangler

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Good reporting Mr Fixer!

Shoprite, a large food chain in this area is holding the line on the cost of skinless boneless chicken breasts at $1.99 a pound. I was in there a few days ago, and they were bought out, but there was a good supply of boneless thighs at the same price.

I plan to go back today, and expect that they will have restocked. At least I hope so.
They had no Lactaid 1/2 and 1/2 the last couple of times I looked.

Eggs here are also expensive, but plentiful.
Plenty of frozen Pizza :)
Wait, Lactaid makes half & half? Where has this been all my life? If it wasn't so miserable outside I'd run out and get some.
 

Poppy

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Wait, Lactaid makes half & half? Where has this been all my life? If it wasn't so miserable outside I'd run out and get some.
I'm pretty sure that the Lactaid brand is available, but maybe not.

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Poppy

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ShopRite is a retailers' cooperative of supermarkets with stores in six states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Periodically they run their Can_Can sale. It is currently underway, they run different items each week for a few weeks.
Currently with a digital coupon (you can get on their app)
Progresso soups- 10/$12
Bumble Bee Tuna 10/$8.99
Canned tomatoes 12/$10
Folgers Coffee $1.99 limit four
Top Round Roast or London broil $2.99/lb twin pack - limit one package
Prego Pasta or Pizza sauce 2/$2

I didn't notice much in the way of holes in the shelves when I went there yesterday.
There were plenty of eggs, but at $5 a dozen, people may have cut back on purchasing them.
To my great disappointment, it looks like they aren't carrying Egg Nog anymore.

I got the next to last 1/2 gallon of store brand "lactose free" whole milk.
There were a few Lactaid 1/2's available.
There was a large selection of milk substitutes, like almond milk etc.

I don't know if it is just a Jersey thing, but here they banned single use shopping bags. The stores typically have cloth bags that are reusable for sale for 50 cents to a dollar. Insulated bags cost more. I forgot to stash some bags in my car, so I looked to buy a few. At none of the twenty check out counters, were any bags.

While I was checking out I asked the girl if she had any bags for sale. She closed her register, and went and got a handful, probably 50 of them. She placed them under her counter, not hanging where they can be seen for purchase. I don't know if they are running short on them, but maybe?
 

bykfixer

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Went back to the $1.25 store.

- Mrs Fixer bought 2 rolls of cricut pleather ($8 at other stores) for $1.25.($2.50 total).
- Scented tea light candles (5.99 at another store) for $1.25.
- Her brand of tea ((3.99 at another store) for $1.25.
- Two boxes of gallon size ziplocks box of 16 for $1.25 that are 30 for $5.99 at another store (32 for $2.50)
- my brand of low calorie juice $1.25 ($3.59 on sale at another store)
- 2 sunglasses cases (normaly $4.99 at another store)
- paper towels (normally $2+ per roll)
So we spent some money but saved a lot down the road.

About the only thing I see missing from shelves right now are things the local grocery store doesn't stock many of anyway. My favorite 2.5 gallon jug of spring water for example. The shelf only holds around 10 and they seem to resupply about once a month so..... and stuff on sale often has been sold out by the time I get there. Sales start Wednesday and I go on the weekend so it's no surprise when they are sold out of an ordinarily $8 item at bogo prices.
 

The Hawk

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I bought some candles at Ollie's the other day. They were left over Christmas candles, but I figured they would work just fine in case the power went out. Also, we keep a few in the car when we travel in case we get stranded somewhere. They had been $8.00 and were marked down to $1.00.
 

scout24

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My local grocery has had zero fresh carrots for almost two weeks now. No bunches, no bags, no bags of pre-cut pieces, nothing. Shelf space is filled with celery. Produce workers have no idea why...
 

PhotonWrangler

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It seems that the single serving cans of peas & carrots have been a low priority for restocking in my area. I've been looking for them and I've only seen the larger family size cans. Finally found a couple of the smalll cans tonight.
 

Poppy

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I don't know if it is supply chain issue, or they are using it as an excuse to bump up the cost of convenience foods.
Perhaps ShopRite is selling boneless chicken breasts as a loss leader, but they are still $1.99 / lb. But the convenience food, rotisserie chicken went from $5.99 to $8.99 each!
 

bykfixer

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The price of eggs did not rise any this week in my area. That was the first time in a while.
But now sliced cheese has. A buck 50 pack is now $4.50. Oh there's plenty of it but it sure has gotten pricey.
Now speaking of chicken, a whole fryer in the fresh meat section was $10.99 but up front they had a whole chicken already fried for $8.99.
 

Poppy

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Out of curiosity I googled "How much does a rotisserie chicken weigh?" and I discovered that a COSTCO one weighs 3 lbs, and a Walmart one weighs 2 lbs.
I don't know the price difference, but I found that interesting.
 

pnwoutdoors

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Supply chain or merely inflation, I don't know, but ...

Here's one concrete example that has happened over a 3yr time frame, in my area: a 48oz bag of vacuum-sealed fish fillets, once sold for $9.99, but today the 48oz-'er is gone and that same sack is now 32oz and priced at $17. That's a 255% per-oz price rise in 3yrs, for this item ($0.208/oz versus $0.531/oz). "Gee, only up to $17, from $10 ... that ain't so bad." Right.

While many such items in the grocery haven't gone up nearly so much, most things seem to have done the little pandemic two-step. Including fresh produce, most "boxed" (processed) items, paper products, spices. If it's not inflation, then in order to keep the price "the same" it ends up being shrink-flation.

Lovely, this economy.
 
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