You know how inflation has been kind of totally wack the past few years.? Have you ever looked at the inflation on groceries alone?

Are grocery prices going down?

In 2020, grocery prices increased by 3.5%.

In 2022, grocery prices increased by 9.9%.

In 2024, grocery prices are on track to average a 2.2% increase by the end of the year. 

Prices have been skyrocketing over the past few years on groceries and it doesn’t look like the prices are going down. And if the prices aren’t going down, I think we all want to know where we can find the cheapest groceries.

I frequently break down people’s budgets on Instagram and the amount of money people are spending on groceries is wild! But you don’t know what you don’t know. A few years back, I started to realize my grocery bill was slowing going up and the quality was going down, but I was buying the same things. At the time, I was shopping at a Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL, which is actually owned by Kroger. I didn’t want to go to Mariano’s (which is owned by Albertsons) because I had gone there previously and always felt the same way about the bill and the quality of the produce.

For the sake of quality produce that would last more than two days, I opted to shop at Whole Foods. To my surprise, my grocery bill was way lower than it had been in previous months. I initially made the switch purely based on produce quality but quickly realized that Whole Foods may not be as expensive as we perceive it to be.

You can jump straight down to the section where I discuss the data I collected from five major grocery stores this month and discover the cheapest place to buy groceries, but I want to talk a little bit about the what’s going on with grocery stores as of late because this may severely affect the way we shop in the near future.

The Albertsons and Kroger Merger

So back in October of 2022, Kroger announced its plan to acquire Albertsons for $24.6 BILLION. Kroger and Albertsons are the two largest grocery store corporations in the United States. Why do they want to merge together? For money, of course. And this is a really big deal if the merger goes through.

Right now, Walmart has the largest market share for grocery stores. 

Wait, Amanda…I thought you just said Kroger and Albertsons are the largest grocery store corporations?

Yes, they are. Walmart is technically a discount store, BUT they sell more groceries than Kroger and Albertsons do independently of each other on a national scale. Walmart accounted for 23.6% of total grocery spending in the US in 2023, meanwhile Kroger accounted for 10.1% and Albertsons with 6.4%.

Okay, so what's the big deal if Kroger and Albertsons merge?

Walmart may take the cake when it comes to total grocery spending on a national level, but not every town has a Walmart. How many stores are there of each in the US? Let's break it down:

• Walmart has 4,391 stores

• Kroger operates 2,719 stores

• Albertsons operates 2,270 stores

If Kroger were to buy out Albertsons, they would be operating 4,989 stores in the United States. And this is why the merger could potentially be very problematic: 

Kroger is much bigger than just Kroger and Albertsons is much bigger than just Albertsons. The two operate thousands of stores around the country under different names.

Kroger operates the following stores:

And Albertsons operates the following stores:

I know…it’s a lot of stores and many people don’t even realize that their local grocery stores actually fall under one of the umbrellas of two of the largest grocery store corporations.

In towns and cities across America that do not have Walmart (or if you're like me in Chicago…it's much harder to get to a Walmart than it is to get to the 20 grocery stores that are all closer to me, that all happen to fall under either Albertsons or Kroger), they will inevitably experience price gouging if the two conglomerates merge together.  

Has the Kroger Albertsons Merger Been Approved?

So…it's been almost two years since the merger was announced and people are wondering what’s holding it up and if it’s been approved. It has not been approved. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is trying to block the largest proposed supermarket merger in US history by suing Kroger under the allegation that the deal is anticompetitive (which it kind of is).

The FTC argues that the merger would cause harm to consumers AND workers. How would it cause harm? Because Kroger and Albertsons are direct competitors. They are competing for your money. And they are competing for workers.

To get you to shop at one store over the other, they compete with each other by offering better produce, higher quality products, lower prices, flexible store hours, and much more. If they now own all of the grocery stores in your town, you'll see an increase in prices and a decrease in quality because they're no longer competing for your dollar.

To get you to work at one store over the other, they compete with each other by offering higher pay and better benefits and working conditions. With the merger, we could potentially see lower or stagnant wages, reduced benefits and poor working conditions. 

A lot of states aren't happy about it either. Arizona, California, DC, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wyoming all have joined the FTC in their pursuit of suing Kroger.

What can we do in the meantime? Well…we can vote with our dollars…

What does that mean exactly? When we spend our money on a good or service, we are voting for the business that's selling us the good or service with our dollar.

If you're fed up with the price of groceries at your local grocery store (maybe it's owned by Kroger or Albertsons), stop giving them your money. Go somewhere else and give them your business instead, whether it be Aldi, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, a small local grocery store, or even the farmer's market. Vote for a different business by spending your money elsewhere.

Comparing Grocery Store Prices

I love data, so I had my trusty sidekick gather the prices from grocery stores local to Phoenix, AZ (where she lives) while I got the prices here in Chicago, IL (where I live) so we could compare.

Phoenix grocery stores used for data:

• Aldi

• Trader Joe's

• Whole Foods

• Albertsons

• Frys (Kroger)

 Chicago grocery stores used for data:

• Aldi

• Trader Joe's

• Whole Foods

• Jewel-Osco (Albertsons)

• Mariano's (Kroger)

We got the prices for twenty-six popular products (milk, eggs, chicken, etc.) at each store. It’s hard to sift through a chart of 130 prices, so I picked out a few items just to highlight the difference in price amongst the five major stores.

Aldi is BY FAR the cheapest place to buy all of your groceries. They don't offer as many organic products, so if you prefer organic, you'll have to head over to Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.

Contrary to popular belief, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are really affordable. In fact, it's cheaper to shop at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods than it is to shop at Kroger or Albertsons. While you can't pick up Oreos, Pizza Rolls, and other junk food big brand items, you can grab all your dairy, meat, and produce for a fraction of the price you'd find at Kroger or Albertsons.

Not only is it cheaper to shop at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, or Aldi, but I truly believe the quality of the products are significantly better. A couple years back, I used to shop at my local Jewel-Osco (Kroger), but started to notice my receipts were getting higher and my produce was going bad after a couple days. Not only do I hate food waste, but it was so incredibly annoying and expensive! I personally made the switch to Whole Foods and saw my grocery bill drop and my produce last significantly longer (and taste better, IMO).

Wrapping Up

If you're looking to slash your grocery bill, try shopping at Aldi, Trader Joe's, or Whole Foods just for a month and compare your spending to the previous month. It may take you an extra few mins in the car to get to one of those locations, and I know it's annoying to have to learn where stuff is when you go to a new store, but it may just be worth it…my assistant slashed her grocery bill in HALF by swapping Kroger with Trader Joe's!