Shoppers fight inflation as they prepare holiday meals

SPRINGFIELD TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — As shoppers head to the grocery stores ahead of the holidays, they can expect their wallets to take a bit of a hit.

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It’s the weekend before Christmas and grocery stores will soon be packed with customers buying baking ingredients, ham, and fresh vegetables.

Susan Owens from Media, Pa. is quite proud of her Christmas shopping cart.

“We’re having ham, which I bought here. And we’re having asparagus, which I bought here,” said Owens.

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She’s hosting for the holidays and did most of her shopping at Martindale’s Natural Market in Springfield, which is preparing for a festive rush of shoppers.

“Our kind of community focus that we have, we really greet each person, we get to know our customers, we get a lot of repeat customers,” said manager Tracy McDonald.

Customers are paying close attention to the price of their holiday necessities as inflation continues to impact food prices.

For example, if you plan on baking Christmas cookies – you can expect to pay 37.5% more for eggs than last year according to Bureau of Labor statistics. The cost of butter and sugar has also ticked up slightly.

A holiday dinner with ham, vegetables, and biscuits or rolls will cost about the same as 2023. If you need to buy potatoes, perhaps to make latkes for Hanukkah, you may actually save a few cents. Flour prices are also down.

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“Look for the products that are on sale,” said John Stanton, a professor food marketing. He says while prices are generally up, there are ways to save; consider buying store brands, and take advice from Santa and make a list for your holiday meal.

“They want to go ahead and buy the things that they really like to have during the holidays. And that may cost them a little more,” he said.

Shoppers at Martindale’s say they’re happy to pay a little more to shop local, though, they’re still excited by sales.

“If it’s marked down, I’ll probably get it,” said Owens.