5 Essential Grocery Items Still Soaring in Cost — and 7 Stores With the Best Prices
Written by
Angela Mae
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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Grocery prices have soared in recent years. The USDA found that food prices went up by 9.9% in 2022 alone, faster than in any other year since 1979. The cost of food at home also rose by 11.4% that year.
Just last year, the average American consumer spent 11.2% of their disposable personal income on food. And while prices have mostly leveled off, most food items are still far more expensive than they used to be. Some are continuing to rise even now.
Here are five grocery items that are still soaring in cost and where you can still get the best prices.
Beef, Dairy, Eggs, Oils and Butter Are Going Up in Price
Key items that continue to rise in cost include meat (especially beef), dairy, eggs, cooking oils and butter.
“Meat, dairy and eggs most notably have [become more] expensive than in the past,” said Vicki Apodaca, a founding member and chief marketing officer of MealsGuru, a budgeting and meal planning app.
Here’s an overview of how some of these staples have risen from July 2023 to July 2024, per data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
- A pound of ground beef: $5.102 to $5.497
- A gallon of whole milk: $3.971 to $3.983 (prices dipped earlier this year but have since begun to climb)
- A dozen Grade A large eggs: $2.094 to $3.080
- A stick of butter: $4.465 to $4.897
And there’s another item experts say is going up. “One item that we use every day — and many people might not realize has gone up —is cooking oils,” Apodaca said.
According to one report, the cost of cooking oils is predicted to continue to rise in the coming years by around 10.03%.
There are many reasons these grocery items have risen in price. Supply chain issues, for one, led to price hikes across the board. Rising inflation rates are another. Even though inflation has leveled off, prices aren’t exactly dropping.
Other factors have also played a role.
“Eggs took a big jump when the avian flu flared up: prices have come off somewhat but are not below pre-crisis levels,” said Erika Kullberg, a personal finance expert, an attorney and the founder of Erika.com. “Cheese and milk are climbing as the prices of feed, a mainstay of farm production inputs, and input/output costs for labor go higher.”
Meat, including beef, has also risen substantially due to the rising costs of feed and fuel ranchers have to pay.
Grocery Stores With the Best Prices
While groceries aren’t cheap by any means, some stores still offer reasonable prices.
“Walmart is usually one of the cheaper options, with some select Kroger brands coming up close,” Apodaca said. “If you’re looking for a place that combines health and low cost, I like Sprouts, but Trader Joe’s is also coming up with some great store brand options that cost less.”
Other options are Aldi and members-only warehouse clubs, like Costco and Sam’s Club.
“Aldi is a favorite among bargain hunters since much of what it sells is from its own private-label brands and the store uses streamlined operations to keep down costs,” Kullberg said. “You’ll save money over time buying items such as meat, dairy products and pantry items at warehouse stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club because you can get them in bulk.”
Prices depend on what you buy, of course. For example, you can generally find cheaper canned goods or packaged foods at places like Walmart. The frozen section also has a lot of good deals, especially if you go with store-brand options.
How To Save at the Grocery Store
There are also other ways to save when grocery shopping.
- Do a bit of weekly meal planning and make a list. When you shop, try to stick to that list so you don’t end up with things you don’t need or won’t use.
- Use store loyalty programs. Signing up is generally free and comes with store discounts that are automatically applied at checkout.
- Use what you already have. Check your pantry, refrigerator and freezer when meal planning so you don’t buy extras of things you already have. You can also plan some meals around your existing ingredients to save even more.
- Plan your shopping around sales. Check your favorite grocery store’s weekly coupons, ads or other deals and plan your trip around those. You can even plan your meals based on what’s on sale.
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