The 12News Market Basket: What are grocery prices like in Phoenix?

PHOENIX — It’s getting expensive to live in Phoenix. As consumers grapple with the rising cost of living expenses, 12News is tracking how prices change at popular stores in the city, and digging into what’s driving those changes.

This is the 12News Market Basket.

To make our market basket we visit three stores every week in Phoenix — a Safeway, a Fry’s and a Walmart — and compare the prices of each in-store brand or its near equivalent. When possible, we also picked popular brands sold at all three stores to compare those prices as well.

If you’re tracking egg prices, the sudden drop of the last few weeks appears to have tapered off. National reports showed that the wholesale price only dropped about 7 cents last week. 

Fortunately that relief has started to make it into Valley grocery stores. While the retail price is still high, many brands have shaved a dollar or more off their price tag.

Other areas of the market are holding steady, especially when it comes to produce and pantry staples. We haven’t seen any measurable price changes for things like rice, bread or vegetables for the last few weeks. 

Keep an eye out for the growing push to ban some types of synthetic dye used in candy or cereal. If those bans take effect, we could see a spike in price as brands adjust to the new regulations.

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Data for the 12News Market Basket is collected every Sunday morning from the following locations:

Safeway — 340 E McDowell Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Fry’s — 100 E Jefferson St, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Walmart — 3721 E Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85018

We don’t track reduced membership prices or coupon deals. Sales will only be recorded for the Market Basket if they apply for all customers.

Our national data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for grocery prices averaged across all U.S. cities. Blank spaces on the chart represent months for which the Bureau did not have price data.

Egg prices continued to drop on a national level, but we saw that decrease starting to slow down compared to weeks before. There was even a slight uptick before markets closed last Friday.

While it’s great that we’re seeing the high prices ease off nationally, don’t get too excited. It’ll take some time for stores to cycle through the more expensive stock that they purchased. 

Arizona is going to double down on keeping up production during the avian flu outbreak. The state was expected to phase out caged chickens over the next couple of years but the governor’s office wants to delay implementation by seven years. 

You can read more about it here.