Chicago grocery runs are turning into gut checks as prices on everyday staples from coffee to diapers have jumped over the past year. A months‑long review of 35 common items at four major retailers found many big‑name products rising by double‑digit percentages, stretching food budgets and pushing shoppers to chase deals. Families, food pantries, and neighborhood groups say the squeeze at the register has become especially hard to ignore this winter.
Reporters at the Chicago Sun‑Times tracked shelf and sale prices on the first Tuesday of each month at a North Side Jewel‑Osco, while checking the same items online for Mariano’s, Target, and Walmart using matching store locations. Their sample basket at Jewel rose from $263.15 on Jan. 7, 2025, to $284.95 on Feb. 3, 2026. At Jewel, 18 items increased in price, 15 stayed the same, and two went down, while Walmart showed more items dropping than rising. That sort of targeted SKU tracking can spotlight sharp jumps on specific products even when broader inflation gauges look much tamer.
Which items spiked the most
In the Sun‑Times’ tally, Folgers ground coffee, Nathan’s bun‑length hot dogs, ground beef, a jumbo bag of M&M’s, and a 12‑pack of Coke were among the biggest climbers, with some stores posting increases north of 25 percent. Folgers, for instance, climbed to $8.99 at Jewel and Mariano’s (about a 38.5% hike), and an 18‑ounce bag of peanut M&M’s reached $13.99 at Jewel (roughly a 27% increase), according to the paper. “Price increases that slammed consumers beginning in mid‑2022 are mostly not going away,” supermarket analyst Phil Lempert told the Chicago Sun‑Times.
How does national data compare…