Greg Bryan / Arizona Daily Star

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Arizona food prices up 12% from last year, but steadying

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Cereal prices seem to be holding steady over the last two quarters and are down from this time last year, if the price of a 10-ounce box of Cheerios is any indication.

In its latest quarterly marketbasket survey, the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation shows the Arizona price of 10 ounces of Cheerios is the same as it was last quarter and down 24 cents — nearly 7 percent — since last year.

One possible factor in the decline and apparent steadiness in the price could have to do with the way some food manufacturers are reducing package sizes while keeping price per package the same.

Several ice cream companies no longer sell half-gallon cartons. Mayonnaise jars are shrinking. And so are cereal boxes.

In early June, Kellogg Co. began shipping smaller packages — reduced an average of 2.4 ounces — of five of its cereals without reducing the price, effectively raising prices for the second time this year.

"This price adjustment on select ready-to-eat cereal brands was taken to offset rising commodity costs for ingredients and energy used to manufacture and distribute these products," company spokeswoman Susanne Norwitz said at the time.

Last year, rival General Mills Inc., maker of Cheerios and Wheaties cereals, started selling its cereals in smaller boxes, at similar prices.

But those changes wouldn't affect the Arizona Farm Bureau's price assessment, said bureau spokeswoman Julie Murphree.

When products are sold in units other than what's on the marketbasket survey list, the person doing the survey determines the price per ounce and then multiplies it to the correct number of ounces for the survey, Murphree said.

Even with prices holding steady, Murphree said she doesn't recommend that people on tight budgets invest a lot in cereal.

"I always try to get people back to eggs and bacon because you get more nutrition for your value," she said. "But you can't help it because kids love their cereal."

In that case, the budget- conscious might try generic brands or the Malt-O-Meal bagged cereals that are formulated to emulate the bigger-named cereals.

Malt-O-Meal's Web site touts 25 different ready-to-eat cereals in a comparison chart inviting consumers to put Malt-O-Meal head-to-head with big-name competitors.

In many cases, Malt-O-Meal claims higher nutritional value, with lower prices in every instance.

Last summer, Kellogg agreed to raise the nutritional value of some cereals and snacks, in the face of a lawsuit by advocacy groups and parents.

Murphree said public awareness of whole grains and their nutritional value is increasing and suggested parents who buy cereal focus more on that.

"Because more cereals are offering the whole grains, it's an opportunity for moms and dads to shop for the whole grain cereals," she said.

More savings online

For more tips on stretching your grocery dollar, go to the Star Savers blog at www.azstarnet.com/sn/starsavers.