NFriday wrote:I was at Jewel yesterday, and eggs were $4.99 for a dozen large eggs. I just checked J4U, and you can get a dozen free eggs for two rewards.

Double check the app. Mine shows 2 rewards will get me 12 Lucerne or 18 Jewel-brand eggs.
The last time I was in the store though, it showed neither - you may not be able to repeat rewards quickly.

Hi,

The rewards are refreshed at the beginning of the month. Once you have used it, then you have to wait for the refresh.

Regards,
Cathy2

I just checked my rewards, and I can get 12 Lucerne large eggs for two rewards, with a limit of one redemption. It does not give me the option to get 18 Jewel eggs. It also says that if there is an option of two things, you can only pick the lowest priced item. Like Cathy says the reward is only available until 12/31, and then they offer new rewards, and so there is no guarantee the eggs are going to be available again in January.

Hi,

For quite a while, it was one point for $2. off Jewel bakery items. Presently it is two points for $3 off Jewel bakery items.

I have associated the value of a point at $2. If a reward reaches that value, it is likely to be acquired.

My favorite is the 7 points for either 12 rolls of paper towels or 30 rolls of toilet paper. The value of either exceeds $14 in value, so I am happy. The toilet paper last time was on sale for $15.99 from its usual price of $19.99. Of course, these were cheaper sometime ago, like just about everything else.

The whole thing keeps me amused.

Regards,
Cathy2

NFriday wrote:I just checked my rewards, and I can get 12 Lucerne large eggs for two rewards, with a limit of one redemption. It does not give me the option to get 18 Jewel eggs. It also says that if there is an option of two things, you can only pick the lowest priced item.

I tried to redeem this award a few days ago at my local Jewel which had no Lucerne branded eggs. I had the dozen Jewel branded eggs, didn't think twice about it. DENIED by the register, so I returned them. I usually hit the grocery stores when nobody's there in the middle of the day, so no waits at the customer service desk. I'm petty a.f. - don't ask. They make me look at their receipts for mistakes, so they can take the item back and put it away. Later that day, I had to drop a kid off at a practice in a diff town, and that put me a block away from another Jewel - still no Lucerne egg dozens there. My reward also shows nothing about an 18 pk of Jewel branded eggs, but I might get on their site for a chat session for help and see if there's a way to redeem this or "unredeem it" if no stores near me have the product.

Hi,

I have had good success messaging Jewel via facebook. Almost always it is resolved in my favor.

Regards,
CAthy2

I am not in a position to check the Mariano's ad but Kroger stores have pork butts for $0.99/lb and spiral hams for $1.29/ lb in most markets

We buy the latter in lieu of deli hams

jlawrence01 wrote:I am not in a position to check the Mariano's ad but Kroger stores have pork butts for $0.99/lb and spiral hams for $1.29/ lb in most markets

We buy the latter in lieu of deli hams

Mariano's ad has $0.88/lb Cook's Spiral cut 1/2 hams with a separate $25 purchase and $0.58/lb Sugardale 1/2 ham (also with $25 separate purchase). Don't see pork butt on sale in either the flyer or digital cupons.

Hi- I have a friend of mine that I offered to take to Jewel today. She does not have a car, and a friend of hers normally gives her a ride to Jewel and Aldi's on Saturday, but he was not able to take her today. She mentioned that she buys the half gallons of the Silk brand of vanilla soy milk at Jewel, and it has gone up in price from $2.99 to $5.49 just recently. I pointed out that there was another vanilla soy milk that was only $4.99, but she said the container was smaller. She is not willing to switch to almond or oat milk, and it has to be vanilla flavored. Does anybody have any suggestions on where she can get it cheaper? She said that Aldi's does not carry vanilla flavored soy milk. Would Whole Foods or Trader Joe's or Target have it cheaper, or maybe Valli? Mariano's is not a good option for her. She lives in Evanston.

We went to the Chicago Ave. store in Evanston, and they overcharged her $1.49. She was not going to go to CS. She told me that her friend does not have the patience to wait for her to go to CS, and so she never does. I had to go to CS because they were out of the Hills Brothers half caff coffee, and I asked for a rain check, and I had to wait in line. By the time I was ready to check out, she had just finished checking out. When she told me they overcharged her, I told her that she could go to CS while I checked out and get her money back.

According to the Target app = Silk Vanilla Soy Milk = $3.99 1/2 gallon.

A Quick tip you can just use google search for prices of some common item in stores nearby.

WALMART:
Great Value (Walmart House Brand) Organic Vanilla Soymilk, Half Gallon = $2.44
Silk Vanilla Soy Milk, Half Gallon = $3.86

HI,

Yesterday I was at Woodman's in Kenosha/Pleasant Prairie.

Large cage-free eggs: $3.79
Medium standard eggs: $3.29
Large standard eggs: ~$4.39

I bought a carton of large cage-free and medium standard eggs. I did take a picture of cage-free price in case it was higher than expected. It was priced exactly as stated. All these eggs were from the same provider: S&R Eggs.

I checked the freshness for the cage free of January 13. The medium eggs freshness until January 20.

I just don't understand egg pricing presently.

Regards,
CAthy2

Eggs are expensive right now because of high demand, and primarily because of the bird flu that killed lots of chickens. Feed is also more expensive right now because of the shortage of fertilizer. Large eggs were $4.99 a dozen at Jewel today, but they had lots of them. I am not a big lover of conventional eggs. The ones at the farmers market I like a lot better, but they are $7 a dozen, and so I don't buy them very often.

Small eggs must be a minimum of 18 ounces per dozen.
Medium eggs must be a minimum of 21 ounces per dozen.
Large eggs must be a minimum of 24 ounces per dozen.
Extra-large eggs must be a minimum of 27 ounces per dozen.

Large: $4.39 per carton or $0.1829 per ounce
Large cage-free: $3.79 per carton or $0.1579 per ounce
Medium: $3.29 per carton or $0.156 per ounce

What surprises me is 'premium' cage-free is cheaper than battery chicken eggs. If they approaching their freshness date, I would understand.

Regards,
Cathy2

In my opinion there is no need to show store loyalty like a cheerleader for Jewel or Aldi or whatever store. Most of us live within 5-7 miles from 10 different stores so if prices are significantly cheaper for some item you buy often like Eggs than go to that cheaper store. Most of the stuff we buy is made/produced by very few conglomerates especially meat, eggs or dairy.

I see at the Amazon Fresh store;
Amazon Brand - Happy Belly Cage-Free, Large, White Eggs, 1 Dozen for $2.99

For the person who was looking for the lite eggnog, I went to Food4Less tonight, and they had Kroger low fat eggnog for only $3.99 for a half gallon. I ended up buying it, and it was just okay. I am going to have problems finishing it. It tastes like it is watered down. I also got a jar of natural peanut butter on sale for $1.79. They also had vanilla soy milk for $2.49 a half gallon, and they had large eggs for $3.19 a dozen, as well as head lettuce for $1.99.

I used to make the rounds of the various grocery stores to hit the sales until the pandemic started, and then when COVID hit, I usually went to one grocery store a week, and often in the evening to avoid the crowds. I do go grocery shopping a little more now, but most of the time when I am in Jewel or Whole Foods, I still wear a mask. I did not wear one tonight at Food4Less because the store was practically empty. I am not a big egg lover, and I am not going to drive to a store five miles away just to get eggs for $2.99. The reason why I buy the great majority of my groceries at Jewel and the farmer's market is because they are convenient. I can walk to the farmers market, and there are five Jewel stores within a five mile radius of where I live. There are two Jewel locations that I mostly go to. I also go to Whole Foods at least once a month.

I've noticed the "fancy" eggs being cheaper or the same price as "regular" eggs, especially at Woodman's. Have seen it at Tony's too. My theory is that they aren't used to changing the price of the specialty eggs so it just sort of falls off the radar, while the regular eggs change constantly.

For anyone who doubts that things were cheaper in the good ol' days, presented for your consideration:
Good thymes! I was refilling spice jars post-Thanksgiving and came upon this package in my freezer. Granted, this was from the grand opening of the bulk spice counter at the Round Lake Beach Garden Fresh. Also worth noting: The long list of Garden Fresh locations, although some of them were already closed in 2013.

Another reason (or two) for the usually cheaper option being priced higher than the usually pricier item: the store needs to reduce the stock of the latter, regardless of whether it's got an expiration date coming up, and/or the store wants a "sale" on the latter to look better than it is.

Case in point: this week Sunset Foods is selling Land O'Lakes extra creamy (black box) salted butter for $3.99/lb (and not in danger of expiring: best by 3-29-23). Just to make sure you pick that butter, the usually cheapest Everyday Essentials butter is marked up to a crazy $5.19/lb.

(On the bright side, Sunset Foods, believe it or not, is selling Di Cecco pastas for $1.79/lb, a price I've not seen since, well, maybe ever. So if you like Di Cecco, get to Sunset by tomorrow!)

Thanks, Katie. Is the LOL extra creamy butter worth the effort of stopping at Sunset?

And the Di Cecco thing is along the same lines as the eggs. Granoro seems to be $1.50/lb (or 500g for some packages) everywhere, up at least 50% in the last couple years. While Granoro is good, Di Cecco is worth the extra 29 cents.

tjr wrote:Thanks, Katie. Is the LOL extra creamy butter worth the effort of stopping at Sunset?

And the Di Cecco thing is along the same lines as the eggs. Granoro seems to be $1.50/lb (or 500g for some packages) everywhere, up at least 50% in the last couple years. While Granoro is good, Di Cecco is worth the extra 29 cents.

I haven't tried the LoL extra creamy butter yet, so I can't say it's worth a special trip, but I was already at Sunset and thought it was worth a try when less fancy butters seem to be about $3.99 everywhere else.

To your point about Granoro pasta, I read (and I'm sure many have noticed) that stores seem to be recouping their covid losses and dealing with supply chain problems by marking up inexpensive items the most. $1 to $1.50/lb is a huge jump but less noticeable for pasta or canned goods than marking up perishable items by 50%. Sunset had all the Barilla pastas "sale" priced at $1.99, and pre-covid, although Barilla used to be my favorite before I switched my loyalty to Di Cecco, I'd never have bought it unless it was on sale for $1.

While at Sunset, I saw what people are saying about crazy chicken prices. I thought I'd get a few drumsticks or thighs for a white chicken chili recipe, but I passed because the chicken started at $3.24/lb for a whole fryer and went up to more than $8/lb (!!!) for some cuts. Given how perishable raw chicken is, I can't help wondering if they really think they're going to sell it at those prices.

Katie wrote:I haven't tried the LoL extra creamy butter yet, so I can't say it's worth a special trip, but I was already at Sunset and thought it was worth a try when less fancy butters seem to be about $3.99 everywhere else.

The extra creamy is 82% butterfat (compared to 80% for regular) so it's comparable to "European" style butters like Kerrygold or Plugra.

Katie wrote:While at Sunset, I saw what people are saying about crazy chicken prices. I thought I'd get a few drumsticks or thighs for a white chicken chili recipe, but I passed because the chicken started at $3.24/lb for a whole fryer and went up to more than $8/lb (!!!) for some cuts. Given how perishable raw chicken is, I can't help wondering if they really think they're going to sell it at those prices.

I mainly shop at Sunset and Fresh Farms. I don't find much difference in price between the 2 for the same product. Certainly, Fresh Farms sometimes has off brands of water cooled birds for less, but product for product I don't see much difference.

Katie wrote:While at Sunset, I saw what people are saying about crazy chicken prices. I thought I'd get a few drumsticks or thighs for a white chicken chili recipe, but I passed because the chicken started at $3.24/lb for a whole fryer and went up to more than $8/lb (!!!) for some cuts. Given how perishable raw chicken is, I can't help wondering if they really think they're going to sell it at those prices.

Holy crap! It's completely the opposite end of town, but I was just at Park Packing on 41st and Ashland two days ago and chicken tenders were $1.19/lb, breast $1.29/lb, and I think quarters were like $0.99/lb (though if you have a big freezer, the 40lb box of fresh quarters is $19.99). Last week I bought jumbo wings at $1.19/lb. They grilled up great on Sunday for the Bills game. The tenderloins and breasts I've bought in the past couple weeks have all been very good. I'm always a bit suspicious, as I've tried more than a couple of times to buy discounted breast at $2.49/lb or so at Shop & Save from these oversized birds, and every time they were an inedible mess, no matter the preparation -- brined, cooked to 155 and checked with a Thermapen -- absolute garbage. But the Park Packing birds were normally sized breasts, and ended up perfectly juicy with the correct texture and everything. (Typically, I go for dark meat, but my kids like white, and they liked the grilled Greek chicken tenderloins I cooked up.)

Hi,

I have had a Jewel personalized coupon of chicken drumsticks for 69 cents per pound up to six pounds.

Prices are roller coaster from store to store.

Regards,
CAthy2

Yesterday I bought a dozen of brown Egglands cage-free eggs at the Elmwood Park Caputo's for $3.69 with best used by date of 1/23/2023. Many of their ordinary eggs were around five dollars per dozen.

At Tony's I have noticed these egg deals have often been for brown cage-free eggs. I suspect that modest spot excess supplies are offered to small local chains that are quite adaptive to market conditions and are willing to have some anomalous pricing.

(eta:) To echo what ekreider posted in the salad thread, and in case readers here don't see that,

I just saw a segment of The Bite with Mike Colameco in between cooking shows in which he explained that what's going on with high prices for romaine and other types of lettuce isn't just inflation; it's because of INSV, a virus spread by flies, that has damaged lettuce crops in the Salinas Valley of California, a major source of lettuce during US winters.

I wonder if spinach is any cheaper? People eat a lot of salads because they are easy to fix. I bought a bag of spinach two weeks ago at the indoor Evanston farmer's market. I did not see any spinach or lettuce at the market this morning, but maybe they had some spinach earlier, and they just ran out. They mostly had root veggies, leeks and cabbage today. Sweet potatoes take a hour to cook, and so that turns people off. I bought five pounds of parsnips and five pounds of beets from Henry today, but a lot of people don't
know what to do with them. I also got five pounds of potatoes from him to give as a Christmas present. My sister would not know what to do with five pounds of root veggies except for maybe carrots.

I did a lot of Christmas shopping today, and I stopped at two Walmart stores today, and eggs were $4.19 a dozen. I ended up getting a dozen eggs at Whole Foods where they were only $3.39 a dozen.