Shopper compares store prices after apples rise
Apral Jack, 50, of Lexington, Massachusetts, said what’s for dinner at her house lately is whatever is on sale. She scouts an app for deals before she buys groceries, grabs the weekly circular for coupons, and if the shelf prices look too high, she scratches items off her list or tries to find lower prices someplace else, she told the Associated Press.
“The apples went up here, the ones I eat, so now I’m not going to get them here. I’ll go to Market Basket, where I can get them cheaper,” Jack said as she pushed a cart into a Stop & Shop near her home.
Jack is among millions of Americans adjusting to an increase the AP described as the biggest jump in grocery prices in a half-century. Buying food to eat at home has gotten 33% more expensive in U.S. cities since the beginning of 2019, according to government figures. In the 7 1/2 years before that, prices rose 6.4%, according to the same data.
Couponing, comparison shopping and cutting back on favorite foods are new habits for Jack and many other Americans as they absorb the price increases, the AP reported. Jack said she now uses the app before she even leaves the house, and she grabs the weekly circular to look for coupons she might have missed once she reaches the store.
Higher grocery prices have reshaped what families buy and how they prepare meals across the country, the AP reported.