MILWAUKEE — Grocery store prices are back on the rise after a slight drop this spring. Although, there are some items that have either stayed steady or dropped in price.
Jamel Braylock from Milwaukee says he no longer gets sticker shock walking down the grocery store aisles. He says every two weeks he is paying more and more to feed his family of four.
"Four hundred, five hundred, somewhere in there. It depends,” said Braylock.
A year ago, Jameal says his family paid $250 every two weeks. His costs right now are even higher because his kids are out of school.
The latest Consumer Price Index report shows the costs of groceries are up higher than the annual cost of inflation. Prices at the grocery store are up 5.8 percent in May compared to inflation being at 4 percent.
"When people talk about the rate of inflation, and how is inflation impacted groceries? Well, it is impacted through price increases. Those price increases come because it costs more to make what you buy,” said Brandon Scholz, president of the Wisconsin Grocers Association.
A Milwaukee grocery store general manager who did not want to be named showed us his costs. An increase in shipping means he has to pay $5-6 more for each case of food. So he says every frozen item in the store will go up in price by about 50 cents, in part, to make up that cost plus others.
It has people like Chauncey Wright buying less food than he usually would and making more trips to the store because he can't afford a big bill.
“The prices are outrageous,” said Wright. “That's the thing, you got to piecemeal it and get what you can get now and everything else later."
Prices for things like flour are up 17 percent, bread is up 12 percent, juice up 10 percent and ice cream is up 8 percent.
But the Wisconsin Grocers Association says the one thing that should give people hope is that eggs had a historic drop in price, falling more than 13 percent in a month.
"It's a good example, because it does show that pro prices for products can come down depending on the circumstances. Now, eggs wasn't driven by inflation, but it does show you that as prices go up they can come down,” said Scholz.
But until they do, people like Jamel say since he has to pay at the store, he has to find other ways to save.
"Cutting back, trying not to get so many sweets. Shifting away from bottle water, we bought a filter for our house. Stuff like that, little small changes,” said Jamel Braylock.
If you are looking to save, the cost of fish, seafood and butter is down overall. While fruits, vegetables and chicken have barely risen in price.
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