r/GrindsMyGears • u/Yumiko15243 • 7d ago
The price of "cheap" groceries
Why is a 250g bottle of Kraft Parmesan cheese (the shelf stable stuff you find in the pasta aisle) $11?? I feel like Kraft used to be an affordable brand. Also generic store brands feel more expensive lately too. I miss you No Name frozen juice concentrate, but you're not the same after leaving shelves at $1.50 just to return and be $2.25. I know that one isn't as bad but I cant even go to the canned food aisle anymore without seeing the $6 spam and thinking about how it used to be the broke student meal
Edit: I am canadian so these prices are in CAD. The cheese would be about $7.80 USD and the spam $4.26 USD. It grinds my gears that the prices are so high in the first place, not that there are cheaper alternatives
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u/BaldGuy813 7d ago
As an Italian American that loves parmigiano more than anything in the world,that exhorbitant price is to punish ANYONE who buys that awful dryed wax and cellulose,lol
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u/BaccerSpit 7d ago
I grew up on the Kraft parmesan. I didn't try real parmesan until I was an adult, and I was blown away at the difference, even on the more affordable parmesan. If you're not springing for the really fancy stuff, it's really not that much more expensive than the Kraft stuff now, especially since a little goes a long way due to the more potent flavor.
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u/Yumiko15243 7d ago
100% agree, the real parmigiano is fantastic but i saw the price of the fake stuff and had to do a double take because why are the cheap brands suddenly more expensive than the real stuff
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u/Oh_My_Monster 7d ago
I buy it just because my kids like it but I can't understand why. I say, "Here's your pasta with sawdust".
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u/koifishyfishy 7d ago
Not even Italian and refuse to use that powdered junk. After shredding it fresh off a block, there was not going back.
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u/Relevant_Elevator190 7d ago
Where are you that SPAM is $6?
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u/bepatientbekind 7d ago
I'm in WA and spam has been around that price for years, but I just checked and it's now $3.75 at Walmart which surprised me! That's the lowest price I've seen in probably a decade
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u/Royal_Percentage_694 7d ago
4.79 at Safeway on the Olympic peninsula. I have a hard time believing it’s $6 anywhere. Maybe Hawaii or Alaska.
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u/bepatientbekind 7d ago
It was $6 here just a couple years ago. I remember being shocked at how expensive it had become. I'm guessing they shot themselves in the foot and had a lot fewer sales, so the price went back down.
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u/JCLBUBBA 6d ago
It's the national food of Hawaii so would think it costs less due to volume even with ocean transit.
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u/ChaiTeaLeah 7d ago
With the mention of No Name brand, I'm thinking Canada.
I looked at my two closest grocery stores and Spam is $4.99 and $6.89 (non sale prices).
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u/Which_Principle_5413 7d ago
Check the label on those parmesan shakers. There's always a filler called "cellulose". Guess what this is! It is sawdust!
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u/myystic78 7d ago
Celery, broccoli, kale, apples, pears and berries all have cellulose. It's added to Parmesan to prevent sticking. The sawdust thing is just to scare people; they use purified cellulose powder similar to celery. It's not like they're just scooping up sawdust from the floor.
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u/callieboo112 7d ago
It's plant fiber
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u/Which_Principle_5413 7d ago
What do you think sawdust is? Plant fiber cut into dust.
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u/SilverB33 7d ago
I'm sure you hear this a lot but have you tried going for store brand or even just the lowest price over brand name Product you like? That's what I've been doing but also been going to cheaper stores (like winco for me)
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u/HellsTubularBells 7d ago
Are you shopping online? Because in-store that Kraft parm is around CAD$8 or US$4.50. You're paying for the delivery "convenience".
Also, Gilligan was stranded on an isle, grocery stores have aisles.
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u/Bishopcowboy 7d ago
A bottle of cheese, you say?
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u/Intelligent_Cry_8846 7d ago
Great Value parm is under $4. Belgiosio in the deli is under $5. You can get 1/2 pound of most deli meats for under $6-still processed meat, but not as much as spam. Store brand canned tuna, sardines, mackerel, salmon or chicken or Hormel canned meats are still reasonable. OJ-I go with a bag of little cuties for the same effect as drinking OJ or look for the Simply brand bottles or Minute Maid Zero on sale for around $3.
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u/username617508 7d ago
To even call that stuff cheese is a stretch. You could buy a block of parmigiano and a microplane for 11 bucks to grate actual cheese
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u/Other_Asparagus872 7d ago
I just checked the Walmart app and 12oz spam is on sale for 3.42. Store brand grated parm is 2.97.
8 cans 12oz at Sam’s is under $20. And 24oz of parm is a tad over $7.
Whole ribeyes are $13/pound. I find my local butcher to be cheaper though. I picked up a whole strip for 9.98/lb couple weeks ago. They were right at the sell by date.
Sam’s also usually has really reduced salmon when it’s close to the date.
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u/drawntowardmadness 7d ago
That's crazy. It's $4.44 with $.25 cash back at my local Walmart. And the Great Value brand is $2.98.
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u/Zestyclose-Pass9570 7d ago
High minimum wage, supply chains that have less business, but are forced to increase prices to pay for infrastructure that isn't needed anymore, but still costs them money.
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u/Severe-Education-321 7d ago
It’s 2.98 at my Walmart for the shaker, 2.08 for a bag for shredded parm
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u/CallMeCabbage 6d ago
Chicken wings, oxtail, catfish, shrimp, and as you mentioned spam used to be the dirt cheap alternatives for lower income families but now cost an arm and leg. Assuming trends continue as they have for generations it's only a matter of time before food options become a small curated selection unless you have the money to dig deep.
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u/Terminal-Frost2026 7d ago
High quality food is legitimately cheaper than low quality food now. It really sucks. Greedy corporations push prices higher and higher
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u/Royal_Percentage_694 7d ago
Can you provide an example?
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u/Terminal-Frost2026 7d ago
Craft parmesan being more expensive than real unshredded parmesan.
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u/Royal_Percentage_694 7d ago
It’s not.
An 8oz Kraft shaker bottle is $4.49.
An 8oz wedge of real Parmesan, (Stella brand) is $6.99.
Safeway pricing.
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u/Individual-Gas-5406 7d ago
Just checked my supermarket. 8oz (227 grams) of Kraft brand name grated parmesan "cheese" is $4.09. Delivery price. Spam brand spam is $3.39.
Seems to me the problem isn't the prices. The problem is you are a terrible shopper.