Where to Buy Groceries to Avoid Price Hikes Due to Tariffs
These days, it’s impossible to live long without hearing the word ” tariff ,” and for most of us, just the word causes anxiety. Household budgets, already a challenge, will become much more difficult once projected price increases and shortages take hold—one study predicts these new tariffs will cost American households an average of $3,800 this year alone.
If you’re determined to avoid tariff surcharges, you’ll have some work to do, especially when it comes to food . About 15% of our food is imported , but this number does not necessarily include food that is produced domestically but uses imported ingredients. And some staple foods, such as coffee or bananas, are almost exclusively imported. But if you’re hoping to avoid tariffs on your grocery bills, you have some subtle options worth exploring.
Albertsons
Amid all the warnings about rising grocery prices, there was one hint of good news: Grocery giant Albertsons announced in late March that it would not tolerate automatic price increases from its suppliers because of tariffs. This is clearly stated as a policy aimed at maintaining prices at current levels.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be any price increases: Albertsons has clarified that it will consider raising prices, but its suppliers will essentially have to submit a request for price increases and the company will consider whether to grant the request. But Albertsons already sources about 90% of its products domestically (though that doesn’t mean ingredients or other components that could be affected by tariffs aren’t included in those domestic products), so this policy could have a real impact on prices.
The good news is that Albertsons is huge . They operate more than 20 supermarket chains, including Safeway, Acme, Carrs and Balducci’s Food Lovers Market—more than 2,200 stores nationwide. You can view a complete list of Albertsons-owned chains here to see if there are any stores near you.
Other Strategies
If you’re near an Albertsons store and are still determined to eliminate tariffs as much as possible, you have a few other options:
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Local store. Buying as much produce as possible from farmers’ markets and other direct sources will avoid most tariff increases, although farmers’ markets tend to be a little more expensive to begin with than grocery stores, so you may not save as much money by going this route.
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Selective shopping. You can also continue to shop at your local supermarket, but pay more attention to the import status of the items you purchase. While you probably won’t find much homemade coffee in your grocery store, there are many products that are not imported and should therefore avoid most price increases caused by tariffs. This can be labor intensive, and since products made domestically can still suffer from tariffs if they include imported ingredients or packaging, there’s no guarantee that you’ll avoid higher prices by looking for the “made in the USA” designation.
It will be difficult to avoid rate increases unless you live near an Albertsons grocery store, at least for now. Until more grocery store chains follow suit (or Albertsons reverses the policy under pressure from its suppliers), this is the best way to avoid the tax.