Smopper Insights
Grocery prices around Pittsburgh. A blog.
I’m Ashley. I built Smopper and I write everything here. Usually a post starts because something in a store did not add up and I went home to check it against the data. If I cannot verify a number, I leave it out. About me
August 11, 2026·Inflation
Grocery Inflation Says 2.7%. Where You Shop Is Worth Fifteen Times That.
Food-at-home prices rose 2.7% over the past year. Our own price data says the gap between two stores four miles apart is thirty to sixty percent. One of those numbers is in the news every month.
June 30, 2026·Price Trends
The Same Gallon of Milk, Four Miles Apart
Two branches of one chain, same week, same product, different price. We checked 1,556 products across multiple locations to find out how often that happens and in which aisles. The answer was not the one I expected.
June 9, 2026·Price Trends
Living through a kitchen renovation
Buying a hundred-year-old house and losing the kitchen to a renovation. What it cost to feed a household without one, and what that revealed about my normal food spending.
May 5, 2026·Buying Guides
From PA to TX to IN to PA again!
Grocery shopping in three states in a few years. What changed between them, what did not, and what moving repeatedly taught me about how regional grocery pricing really works.
April 8, 2026·Buying Guides
How We Decide Two Products Are the Same Thing (And Where We Get It Wrong)
A price comparison is only as good as the matching underneath it. Here is exactly how Smopper decides that two products are comparable, including the bug that made a 12-pack of soda beat everything.
March 11, 2026·Inflation
Eggs, One Year After $6.23
A year ago the average dozen hit an all-time high. It has come most of the way back down. Here is the full BLS series, what caused it, and the question about our own shelf prices I could not answer.
February 17, 2026·Store Comparisons
Kuhn's Market and the Case for the Store That Isn't Trying to Be Everything
Our own data says Kuhn's is not the cheapest store in Pittsburgh, and in one category it is dramatically not. After months of tracking it item by item, here is why I still shop there.
January 27, 2026·Buying Guides
Stockpiling 101: Building a Pantry That Saves Money
How to build a working pantry rather than a hoard: what to stock, what a stock-up price looks like, how much is too much, and the rotation that stops it going to waste.
January 27, 2026·Store Comparisons
Warehouse Clubs vs. Traditional Grocers: When Does Costco/Sam's Actually Save You Money?
Membership fees, bulk pricing and the categories where warehouse clubs genuinely win. Working out whether the math holds for the way your household actually eats.
January 27, 2026·Buying Guides
The Complexity of Grocery Store Prices
Grocery margins are thinner than almost anyone assumes. A look at what actually sits between a farm and a shelf tag, and why the price you pay is the end of a long chain.
January 27, 2026·Store Comparisons
The Kroger-Albertsons Merger That Wasn't
A $24.6 billion supermarket merger collapsed in court in late 2024. What both sides argued, why the judges did not buy it, and what it means for grocery competition near you.
January 27, 2026·Price Trends
Grocery Pricing Psychology
Endcaps, eye-level shelves, charm pricing and the loss leader. How supermarket layout and price presentation are designed to move you, and what to do about it.
Prices move and they are different four miles away, so check your own store before you count on anything I write. If a post has gone stale or looks wrong where you shop, tell me and I will fix it. You can also price your own list with the same data these posts come from.