Food prices have risen 24% since the pandemic began
We’ve all experienced sticker shock at the store. On a recent trip to the grocery store, a pound of ground beef was $6.99! I remember when ground beef prices were under $5/pound. That sticker shock is not going away. We know inflation is a fact of life, but the drastic increase in prices during the pandemic years, combined with ongoing inflation, is crippling to family budgets. Eggs, beef, almost every common grocery item has increased in cost, and it’s hurting everyone’s wallet.
According to the USDA's Food Price Outlook, food prices rose faster than overall inflation. The agency calculated food prices were 3.2% higher in August 2025 than a year earlier. Beef and veal prices soared by 13.9% over the same time period. In 2024, egg prices alone jumped 8.5% nationally, putting pressure on family budgets. If you, like me, received a 3% annual raise in your salary, your purchasing power is diminished when buying groceries and that is not sustainable.
But wait, let’s look back at how things have changed since the pandemic. Between January 2020 and January 2023, food prices have increased 24%! As we have heard the experts tell us, many of those increases were due to supply chain issues that impacted consumers globally; however, it doesn’t reduce the pain at the register.
And that increase in food prices didn’t go away. While the rate of inflation has slowed, prices continue rising, eating away at our wallets. While we can’t control inflation, we CAN control where and how we shop.
The Smopper app can help you be a smart shopper and find the best prices available in your area. Take advantage of how Smopper queries local grocery stores for the items you want to buy. The app focuses on the per unit price of an item, so you are comparing the actual value of the product versus the shelf price.
For example, Store A sells an 11.5-ounce box of cereal for $4.79 ($0.42/oz) and Store B sells the same brand but in a 35-ounce bag for $6.99 ($0.20/oz). Although the price at Store A is lower, the value of the larger bag at Store B is a smart shopper's choice. Comparing per unit costs helps you understand how much you are paying for the product each time you use it rather than focusing on the overall price at the register. This is the best way to stretch your dollars further.
I built Smopper because I was tired of missing deals and overpaying for groceries. Try out Smopper today and start seeing the time and money savings in your weekly grocery shopping. Your wallet will thank you!