Have groceries gone up? Backed up with 4 years worth of data

[numenorian]

Hey everyone,

Recently I found out if you've been scanning your PC points card at Superstore, they've made available older receipts that you can browse and see how much you paid for it.

Available is the price per unit and the price.

Unfortunately this data is not in a download friendly form, so I painstakingly copy-pasted it all by date order into one text file and made a python script to read it all, and analyze it.

Long-story-short, I managed get some trip totals and item totals and put them all in an excel sheet. This sheet is too big for google where I planned to host it, if anyone can host it I'll gladly send it.

Some highlights:

No, things haven't gotten more expensive. As crazy and counter intuitive as it seems, the data doesn't back this up.

You can see some samples of these historical prices over the last 3.5 years that I've been scanning my card in this imgur link, and if someone has a good place to host the full file, I'll be happy to share it.

BTW, that big $500 trip on the totals is a TV, not groceries. No tax event!.

Funny enough, I also decided to look at the average expense per 3-month span and that did go up during the beginning of the pandemic... but our budget shows a massive drop on our restaurant budget, which is probably why our groceries went up in that span. And as you can see in the graph, as the restrictions are gradually lifted, our average grocery trip slowly goes down.

So... are groceries really more expensive? As much as I wanted to say yes, I can't see it in the data.

Can anyone see something I couldn't?

Edit: The full file has >400 277 items that I've bought at last twice in that span of time, the sample plots are just any times I've bought at least 30 times, it'd be an absurd amount of plots otherwise.

Edit 2: If you want to see a specific item, there's a chance I may have bought it. Let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can produce it and post it.

Edit 3: 277 items Things I bought twice or more

Edit 4: @binh04101988 posted all the work on github, you can find it publicly available here

 

[tirynn]

@numenorian I think the shady part is that the price on many items may be the same but the package that was 450 grams is now 430 or 410. I see it on a lot of items and that adds up fast.

 

[createchangeedu]

@tirynn Came to say this - the latest shrinkage I’ve seen is 454g pasta to 410g... it’s a pretty huge difference when you’re used to making the box for 4 adults

 

[theberlintall]

@createchangeedu And those 454g used to be 500g as well.

 

[reb72]

@theberlintall 454g is also standard, 454g=1lb

 

[bingsta]

@reb72 Bags of shrimp at loblaws used to be 454g, now they’re 400g for the same price.

Source: I used to work there.

 

[billwalker48]

@reb72 It's a conspiracy involving Jenny Craig and Weightwatchers!

 

[kirstis111]

@createchangeedu Wow, that's fucking bullshit.

 

[baryarma]

@kirstis111 Sounds like you're a part if the conspiracy and trying to stop the spread of the truth

 

[livingstone2014]

@baryarma Lmao

 

[baryarma]

@livingstone2014 At least someone got the joke

 

[baryarma]

@kirstis111 Honestly thought you were replying to the guy that made the jenny craig comment

 

[chrismclure42]

@createchangeedu Very recently my local grocery store (independent, a Loblaws brand) just switched from 900g bags of Unico pasta to 750g. We used to be able to make half the package and have 2 dinners and also 2 lunches for the next day... Price is the same as it was before too

 

[raaven]

@tirynn Yeah, this is a technique that companies use to save money or increase the price of their product silently. They sell a smaller amount of a product for the same price. Most consumers won't notice, but some will, like you. Learned this in a marketing class long ago.

 

[southernlady1967]

@raaven Restaurants have done the same thing

 

[trushmoon]

@southernlady1967 Tapas restaurants: where you get 1/4-1/2 of the food for 1/2- full price, and then you share it so you end up buying 4-8 plates at the cost of 3 or 4 meals (plus 2 extra drinks because there are extra waiting periods between courses) for 2 people and end up with a $200 bill.

 

[theblessed_one]

@trushmoon These places are the worst. I know they're trendy and stuff, but I've never liked the concept.

 

[konfesslena]

@theblessed_one Tapas in Spain refers to a (usually free) snack you get with a drink. Because it's free, often times it's just potato chips or olives or something. Not Iberico ham nestled between endive with anchovy dust.

 

[bellab]

@konfesslena Yes, after you come back from Spain you realize those tapas places here don't have the true spirit at all. Also in Barcelona they adapted to tourists and sell expensive tapas; in Madrid you get a more authentic experience (a small beer and pan con tomate for something like 3-4 euros)

 

[thenotsogoodchristian]

@bellab Sadly, the Market has decided that this is the direction it wants.