Aldi, Walmart promise Thanksgiving food price breaks

Aldi and Walmart have captured media attention recently by saying they’re rolling back prices on their Thanksgiving offerings to 2019 or 2020 price levels. The moves come in response to what seems like a public obsession with inflation these days. (That obsession is overblown in my opinion, you can adapt by how and where you shop to still find food deals as I’ve written about here).

Checking their sites for more details, I found that Walmart is very specific in terms of what prices will be held down.

“We’re removing inflation on an entire basket containing traditional Thanksgiving items. We made significant investments on top of our everyday low prices so customers can get a traditional Thanksgiving meal at last year’s price at Walmart*,” according to a press release on the Walmart site.

Having covered Walmart as a food business journalist, I can tell you its senior execs are very serious about always offering the lowest prices. Their buyers get continually pushed to find lower prices. So this move doesn’t surprise me, it fits with the DNA of the brand.

Aldi is less specific about what prices are being rolled back. When you click on its Thanksgiving Price Rewind graphic (on the Aldi website), it simply takes you to an online shopping page. Aldi is claiming to roll back prices to 2019 levels, significant since we did express price increases in 2020 and 2021.

I’m going to be checking both locations to see if either is offering low-sodium turkeys, fat-free gravy, or healthier butter substitutes for prices lower than the local supermarket chains. I’ll let you know what I find.

November 7, 2022 0

Burn Pit BBQ spices offer good flavor, kick in the hot offerings

Back in July, I received some spice samples from a Wisconsin company, Burn Pit BBQ. I’ve since had the opportunity to use them, and to get reviews of the spiciest ones from my formerly food-blogging daughter who loves hot sauces. We agreed all our experiences with the samples were positive. We can recommend these to spice lovers.

*A sampling of Burn Pit BBQ offerings we tried.*

I particularly enjoyed the garlic seasoning, called Ground Pounder, on my steaks. My daughter tried the hot sauce and found it flavorful with a hint of cajun seasoning. We both tried the Fire in the Hole mixture and found it hot but not overwhelming, a plus for someone like me who avoids the hottest of the hot.

Keep in mind these are not salt-free mixtures, but can be considered low-salt (the garlic mixture, for example, has 110 mgs of sodium in half a teaspoon; Fire in the Hole has 95 mgs). Nutrition information for each offering is viewable on the company website.

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September 9, 2022 1

Trader Joe’s High Fiber Cereal is Back on Store Shelves!

After weeks away, Trade Joe’s High Fiber Cereal is back on store shelves in my Chicago north suburban store. I stocked up on eight boxes Sept. 1 after trying a variety of alternatives during the weeks the TJ’s cereal was not available.

The shopping trip reminded me of a lot of reasons I prefer the Trader Joe’s to other high fiber cereals. Not the least of those factors is the price, $2.99 a box. For alternatives, I paid $6.99 for Fiber One, $4.99 for All Bran on sale and $4.99 for Buds on sale (each was $1.80 off their regular prices).

Given that I eat a box a week for breakfast, the savings over a year are substantial — $208 compared with Fiber One, $156 with All Bran or Buds (assuming I get those for the sale price all year).

I’m thankful that TJ’s high fiber cereal has not joined all the other low-salt, low-sugar products Trader Joe’s has cut in recent years, such as salt-free shrimp sauce, salt-free whole-wheat bread and no-salt-added marinara sauce.

September 7, 2022 0

Keeping your food budget down in inflationary times — here’s a great example

I’ve written about how important it is in these inflationary times to plan your weekly grocery shopping trip or trips based on weekly sales. So I loved coming across this rather long piece on BuzzFeed: I Feed My Family Of Five For $120 A Week — Here’s What A Week Of Groceries & Meals Looks Like For Us.

*Pre-planning your shopping can save you significant dollars, as seen on this receipt of mine.*

The author is a mother of three form Colorado. She mentions that her weekly budget has gone from $100 to $120, a 20% increase. And she reiterates my point, writing, “I start by looking at my local grocery store’s weekly sales so I know what items will get me the most bang for my buck. This first step has become more important than ever to my planning and budgeting lately.”

There’s a lot more to read, take a look and let me know what you thought of it in the comments here.

August 11, 2022 1

Inflation food shopping tip: plan your shopping list based on weekly sales

With food prices likely to rise all year, it’s more important than ever that you go to food stores with a shopping list and a plan. Impulse buys will cost you dearly these days. It’s time to be a smart shopper.

I look at weekly food stores ads each Wednesday when they come out, to see what’s on sale. I then create heart-healthy recipes based on those sales. My goal — save 25% or more off supermarket normal prices by shopping only sales. I want to see something taken off each item I carry out of the store. And usually, I do.

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June 21, 2022 2

Inflation food shopping tip: bananas are a relative deal

It’s no secret food prices have been soaring the past two years, I’ve warned about that continuing here. So look for more tips on how to cut your food shopping spending on this blog. Today’s tip comes from Eatingwell.com.

Bananas, it notes, are a relative bargain in the fruit world. “The average price of 1 pound of bananas was $0.62 in the U.S. in 2021. This could give you a week’s worth of fruit to eat as a snack or as a side to a meal for less than $1. Compared to $1.45 for a pound of navel oranges or $4.44 for a pint of fresh blueberries, bananas are an incredibly budget-friendly fruit,” the article states.

In my suburban Chicago market area, bananas ranged from 59 cents a pound at a local Whole Foods to 69 cents at a Jewel (although different Jewel’s here charge only 59 cents, so shopping around pays, even within the same supermarket chain).

Costco has been a low-cost banana seller in the past but the last I check it was not, check your local Costco or Sam’s Club to see how it compares in your area.

“One medium banana contains 105 calories, 1 gram of protein, 27 grams of carbs (including 14 grams of naturally occurring sugar), 3 grams of fiber and 422 milligrams of potassium (about 16% of our daily needs). Bananas contain resistant starch, which can help improve gut health, help with blood sugar control and even promote healthy weight management. This flavorful fruit can also help lower your risk of heart disease, decrease blood pressure, improve mood, reduce risk of anxiety and more,” the article notes.

I eat one to two bananas a day to replace the potassium I lose because of one of the heart medications I take. My other alternative would be taking another pill, a potassium pill. The fewer pills I have to take, the better I like it. Plus I love the taste of a good banana.

June 18, 2022 0

Jif products recalled in 12 states, check your pantries & food cabinets

The J.M. Smucker company is recalling several of its Jif products, including crunchy and creamy peanut butter, natural peanut butter, no-sugar-added peanut butter, and squeeze packs of peanut butter.

“The recalled products will have lot codes between 1274425 and 2140425. The first seven digits of any potentially affected product will end with 425, denoting that the peanut butter was manufactured in Lexington, Kentucky,” reports Foodandwine.com.

Here’s where to find the lot numbers on your Jif peanut butter jar label.

You can find the lot codes on the label near the Best if Used By dates.

States impacted are Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, New York, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

The possible presence of Salmonella prompted the recall. At least 14 people have reported health issues because of the products and two had been hospitalized when FoodandWine.com published the news.

For more information, read the Food and Drug Administration release on the recall.

May 25, 2022 0

Multi-stop shopping becoming the norm in these inflationary times

Shopping around for the best deals is a must-do strategy as you try to control your food bill in these inflationary times. I’ve offered several suggestions for how to do that, such as pre-planning every trip you make.

*This was what awaited me during a Pandemic shopping trip in senior shopping hour at a local supermarket — packed aisles and long checkout lines.* The lines are shorter these days.

Now the rest of the country seems to be catching up to me, according to data from IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm.

More than three in four consumers (78%) in April adjusted their grocery-shopping behaviors in an effort to save money amid rising inflation,” reports Winsight Grocery Business. “In comparison, 72% of consumers said they had made one or more changes to their shopping behaviors in March.”

“While the pandemic saw consumers trying to complete their grocery shopping in one trip, it seems the trend is now reversing, as 17% of consumers now visit multiple retailers to get the best deals, IRI found,” the Winsight article reports.

Only 17%? Until more of us do more comparison shopping and go to different places to get deals, prices will stay high. For more tips on finding low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar products during these high-price times, check out my smart shopping page.

May 18, 2022 2

Expect food prices to rise an average 4% this year, USDA forecasts

*Expect rising prices at the supermarket this year.*

Food prices rose throughout the pandemic and this year will be no different, with average food prices up 4%, predicts the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Looking at specific food categories, the USDA sees dairy products rising 5%, poultry items 7%, cereals and baked goods 4% and restaurant prices 6.5%.

Keep in mind that assumes we don’t change our shopping habits because of rising prices, something we all should be doing.

Check my posts on trying dollar stores and planning every shopping trip to get the lowest prices, among my other suggestions.

April 5, 2022 0

Expect Amazon to sell more and more groceries

I may not have enjoyed my shopping experience at a new Amazon Fresh store, but what I think isn’t keeping Amazon from targeting the grocery business for major expansion, according to several recent reports.

*Expect to see Amazon Fresh stores opening near you.*

Amazon to shut its bookstores and other shops as its grocery chain expands, reports Reuters (an old boss of mine from my reporting days).

How Amazon Plans to Transform Grocery in 2022 from Progressive Grocer goes into detail on Amazon’s plans for this year. It’s focusing on using technology to speed customers through, and out of, stores. Apparently, it thinks that will appeal enough to customers that they won’t try to price comparison shop against other supermarkets, as I did in my recent post.

“Retail analytics firm Placer.ai recently examined the performance of Amazon’s first Amazon Fresh grocery stores in California and Illinois, and found that those stores are gaining market share against traditional grocery operators,” Progressive Grocer reports. Expect that to continue — and expect grocery prices to rise, not fall, as Amazon captures more unsuspecting shoppers.

March 3, 2022 0

Category: smart shopping