How are you handling rising food and energy costs?

[Mysterian]

Most actual food, yes, they can not reduce packaged size because most actual food is sold by the pound or piece. For eggs, they would have to start selling them individually. And probably sell you the carton for $0.10 like the bags you need to carry your groceries home easier.

They can't shrink eggs is all I'm sayin'. They will not sell eggs individually: let us not entertain some dystopian scenarios Mr. Odgers!

 

[NotUrsula]

LOL, there is actually a pretty solid history of eggs being sold individually; it happened during wartime rationing, and it has been known to be done in city bodegas where people have tiny living spaces & even tinier kitchens with very little storage space. If you live alone and will only eat 2 eggs in a week, why buy more?

 

[focusondisney]

Sure, farmers used to deliver what just you needed as far as eggs & milk. And there is no law that says eggs must be sold by the dozen. Producers absolutely could sell smaller packages. They could reduce the carton to hold 10 eggs for example, instead of 12. As a matter of fact, I only use eggs for baking, we never eat them as part of a meal. I’ve been buying small cartons with only 6 eggs in them for years. Both Wegmans & Tops sell them.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

There was a big fire at a hen farm in CT last week, killing 100,000 hens.

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news...e-at-hillandale-farms-in-bozrah-doag/2964707/

Idk if it will impact prices locally.

 

[DLgal]

Sure, farmers used to deliver what just you needed as far as eggs & milk. And there is no law that says eggs must be sold by the dozen. Producers absolutely could sell smaller packages. They could reduce the carton to hold 10 eggs for example, instead of 12. As a matter of fact, I only use eggs for baking, we never eat them as part of a meal. I’ve been buying small cartons with only 6 eggs in them for years. Both Wegmans & Tops sell them.

I see eggs packed by the half dozen at every store I shop at. Is that not common elsewhere?

 

[focusondisney]

I see eggs packed by the half dozen at every store I shop at. Is that not common elsewhere?

No idea. I was just responding to the post that egg’s won’t be sold by anything other than a dozen.

 

[RedAngie]

LOL, there is actually a pretty solid history of eggs being sold individually; it happened during wartime rationing, and it has been known to be done in city bodegas where people have tiny living spaces & even tinier kitchens with very little storage space. If you live alone and will only eat 2 eggs in a week, why buy more?

I remember as a kid some local corner stores selling eggs individually. They were displayed in a large open carton in a refrigerated case, maybe 36 (6x6) in a layer.

If you wanted a dozen, they were put into a 3x4 box. I still have a 3x4 box for about 8 decorated Easter eggs, the rest broke over the years.

Even now some Amish markets sell eggs individually.

I usually buy eggs in a 6 pack. Many but not all supermarkets near me sell them that way.

 

[HeatherC]

There was a big fire at a hen farm in CT last week, killing 100,000 hens.

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news...e-at-hillandale-farms-in-bozrah-doag/2964707/

Idk if it will impact prices locally.

They still don’t know the cause of it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

An Australian on the cruise FB page I'm on for the cruise company we'll be on made a post that egg issues (which were potentially causing cruise ship supply issues) were just a NZ/AUS thing due to newer cage free laws. A few non-NZ/AUS people spoke up saying nope definitely not just concentrated to that area, the U.S. and other nations have been having some big issues.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

They still don’t know the cause of it.

Hmm

 

[barkley]

lots of unhappy people at my local costco today-they haven't gotten their chicken shipments for the last few days so not only no rotisserie chickens but minimal quantities of the prepared food items they make with chicken.

 

[shh]

Sure, farmers used to deliver what just you needed as far as eggs & milk. And there is no law that says eggs must be sold by the dozen. Producers absolutely could sell smaller packages. They could reduce the carton to hold 10 eggs for example, instead of 12. As a matter of fact, I only use eggs for baking, we never eat them as part of a meal. I’ve been buying small cartons with only 6 eggs in them for years. Both Wegmans & Tops sell them.

walmart actually sells 2-egg portions. Much pricier per egg though

 

[lowlight]

Record inflation and record supermarket and food producer profits should not go hand in hand. We’ve basically consolidated hundreds and even thousands of different companies into a handful of mega corporations that answer to shareholders. The same thing is happening with private doctor offices being swallowed up by hospital groups. It’s not a pretty picture when power and wealth are consolidated, history has shown us time and again.

 

[focusondisney]

Record inflation and record supermarket and food producer profits should not go hand in hand. We’ve basically consolidated hundreds and even thousands of different companies into a handful of mega corporations that answer to shareholders. The same thing is happening with private doctor offices being swallowed up by hospital groups. It’s not a pretty picture when power and wealth are consolidated, history has shown us time and again.

They’re following what’s already happened with oil, gas & electric companies. Record prices, record profits, record inflation. But you know, the stock market is up, so nobody cares how the average person is doing.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I see eggs packed by the half dozen at every store I shop at. Is that not common elsewhere?

Not all stores have them, but I've seen them. DD19 lives in an on-campus apartment and has a meal plan, but she loves to bake. She'd gotten a half-dozen of eggs, and saved the little carton. Now, when she needs a few eggs, she brings the carton home and "steals" some of mine. She doesn't eat straight eggs, and doesn't want to waste any.

 

[Minnesota!]

cow set for slaughter on February 8th, which we will be getting 1/8th of so should be all set for beef for a long time. Big up front cost but excellent meat.

This is one of the best things we have done as a family. A half a cow bought last year has lasted us almost a year. I think we picked it up in March of last year? Still PLENTY left.

I am a vegetarian, so my diet is cheap and easy. Some fresh veggies (lately it has been the $2.09 bag of fresh green beans) and a 12 pack of eggs for $4. That gets me dinner for the week. 2 eggs a nice over a good amount of veggies and some hot sauce..

Lunch today was 3 heaping tablespoons of black beans (about 1/3 of a .59 cent can) with a handful of salad mix, some salsa, cheese, and low carb tortilla chips. Probably a total of...$1.25 worth of food?

I cut our budget down even further just to see if I could do it - since we are stocked on meat, I cut it to $60/week for fresh veggies, milk, eggs, fruit, nuts, etc. The one brand of something I wanted was out, so I had to go up in cost (I think it was the low carb tortillas), and so last week ended up being a smidge over $60...with delivery and tip on Instacart.

Very grateful to live where I do...I know the prices are not that reasonable everywhere.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Walmart now charges for the item delivered, NOT what you ordered, like they used to. It changed a few months ago, here, at least.

I wanted to touch base on this (I vaguely remember it being brought up and searched the DIS to find this) but yes here they are also charging for substitutions (delivered or through pick up) so for example we ordered this Thursday for pick up Friday evening and they were out of Great Value rigatoni so they substituted for Barilla and was charged the cost difference between them.

I know it's a matter of volume of orders but I'd say for the last 6-8 months we've seen much more problems with issues with our orders than ever. Even in the height of the pandemic it wasn't this bad. For example that order we placed to be picked up yesterday evening we ordered 2 bags of Great Value wide-egg noodles. They gave us 1 bag of that and then another (which ended up being smaller too in weight) of egg-free ribbons. I'm sure that was an honest mistake but it's a big issue in the end because it's not what I need. And egg-free ribbons and wide-egg noodles were in large bold letters too so clearly marked. We put in a request for a refund which they immediately gave us. We've had where they said they were out of something and so they nixed it from the order but then my husband would go into the store and it was there. Would have to be a suspect in timing of a shipment since this has happened more than once (some that I remember was fiesta blend cheese, heavy cream).

We've had missing items before (like an onion or something) and again honest mistakes I'm sure but the accuracy was so much better even in the worst of the worst of the pandemic when so many people were doing orders. And it doesn't seem to be necessarily location dependent we've ordered from 2 different locations although primarily only one nearest to our house and we've still experienced issues. I'm fairly pro-employee but I really wish these mistakes weren't happening

 

[BlueStarryHat]

The Covid emergency supplement for SNAP is ending next month. For those who get food assistance, like me, this is going to hurt with prices being so high. It will slash my SNAP allotment to less than $200 for the month.

 

[barkley]

I wanted to touch base on this (I vaguely remember it being brought up and searched the DIS to find this) but yes here they are also charging for substitutions (delivered or through pick up) so for example we ordered this Thursday for pick up Friday evening and they were out of Great Value rigatoni so they substituted for Barilla and was charged the cost difference between them.

I know it's a matter of volume of orders but I'd say for the last 6-8 months we've seen much more problems with issues with our orders than ever. Even in the height of the pandemic it wasn't this bad. For example that order we placed to be picked up yesterday evening we ordered 2 bags of Great Value wide-egg noodles. They gave us 1 bag of that and then another (which ended up being smaller too in weight) of egg-free ribbons. I'm sure that was an honest mistake but it's a big issue in the end because it's not what I need. And egg-free ribbons and wide-egg noodles were in large bold letters too so clearly marked. We put in a request for a refund which they immediately gave us. We've had where they said they were out of something and so they nixed it from the order but then my husband would go into the store and it was there. Would have to be a suspect in timing of a shipment since this has happened more than once (some that I remember was fiesta blend cheese, heavy cream).

We've had missing items before (like an onion or something) and again honest mistakes I'm sure but the accuracy was so much better even in the worst of the worst of the pandemic when so many people were doing orders. And it doesn't seem to be necessarily location dependent we've ordered from 2 different locations although primarily only one nearest to our house and we've still experienced issues. I'm fairly pro-employee but I really wish these mistakes weren't happening

i have to wonder if part of the issues w/substituting out pickup items and items being on shelves when you walk in vs. not being in order you've just picked up is directly related TO the stocking of shelves at walmart. for the past few months the stocking of shelves at the 3 local walmarts has been abysmal. there will be entirely empty within reach shelves while there are products that could back fill up on the top. i can see one of the personal shoppers doing the exact same thing private shoppers are doing and either passing on a product or finding a substitute (and their staffing seems to be greatly reduced as well).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

i have to wonder if part of the issues w/substituting out pickup items and items being on shelves when you walk in vs. not being in order you've just picked up is directly related TO the stocking of shelves at walmart. for the past few months the stocking of shelves at the 3 local walmarts has been abysmal. there will be entirely empty within reach shelves while there are products that could back fill up on the top. i can see one of the personal shoppers doing the exact same thing private shoppers are doing and either passing on a product or finding a substitute (and their staffing seems to be greatly reduced as well).

It can def. be at least part of it or responsible for issues at times.

A few months ago I went in to get spice cake and inventory said they had it well they did but it was on the top restocking shelf like you're talking about (the one where you're supposed to ask assistance for). My very tall husband was with me and was just able to grab it. I immediately said "bring a few more down so no one else is as frustrated as I was lol" So I def. believe some of that is the issue. I think it also can just be that stock isn't put out as timely as it used to be and I'm not sure if they are authorized to go through back stock that hasn't been removed from boxes or whatnot in the back.

The other part though clearly is an employee issue part of either not paying attention or just not feeling like looking. I know staffing is an issue and I've been a big "we have to understand" kind of person throughout but it's just been fairly bad lately that it's getting a bit ridiculous the amount of issues we're having. We also have been getting worse and worse on the meat expiration issue. Last pick up order we had on Jan 21 they gave us cube steaks with a use or freeze by the next day so just put them in freezer bags immediately as we just weren't prepared to eat them that quick. Meat and poultry were kind of an iffy thing anyhow with grocery pick up but it was more a random one off we'd get something very close in dates and now it's much more common which is more I think related to them picking that out because you'd go in the store and have much more variety of dates to choose from.