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The Lowtein Basket Tracker

How good are this week's grocery deals?

A weekly national time series, updated with every refresh — tracking since May 18, 2026. The monthly Grocery Price Index ranks cities; this tracks time.

What this measures — in one breath

Lowtein records the best advertised price for each staple, in every city, every week — deal prices, not average shelf prices, so this is not an inflation measure. The headline series fixes that honestly: deal depth divides each week's best price by the government's official average, so the benchmark moves with real prices and what remains is the question no one else measures — how good are the deals right now?

United States

Deal depth — how far below the government average this week's best prices ran

National median across every city × staple meat, vs the official average (StatCan / BLS). Higher = deeper deals — a strong flyer week.

week of May 18 — 45%May 1845%week of May 25 — 47%May 25week of Jun 1 — 45%Jun 1week of Jun 8 — 42%Jun 8week of Jun 15 — 45%Jun 15week of Jun 22 — 52%Jun 22week of Jun 29 — 52%Jun 2952%week of Jul 6 — 45%Jul 6week of Jul 13 — 45%Jul 13week of Jul 20 — 45%Jul 20week of Jul 27 — 44%Jul 27week of Aug 3 — 42%Aug 342%week of Aug 10 — 45%Aug 1045%

The basket of best — US$, at each week's best advertised prices

Deal prices, not shelf prices: what the staples basket cost a shopper who grabbed each week's best advertised deal.

week of May 18 — US$27.78May 18US$27.78week of May 25 — US$24.40May 25week of Jun 1 — US$26.13Jun 1week of Jun 8 — US$26.82Jun 8week of Jun 15 — US$24.02Jun 15week of Jun 22 — US$23.64Jun 22week of Jun 29 — US$24.43Jun 29week of Jul 6 — US$25.89Jul 6week of Jul 13 — US$25.69Jul 13week of Jul 20 — US$25.69Jul 20week of Jul 27 — US$25.48Jul 27week of Aug 3 — US$26.93Aug 3week of Aug 10 — US$22.43Aug 10US$22.43
Latest week's per-item medians (Aug 10) ▾
Chicken Breast1 lbUS$1.99
Ground Beef1 lbUS$3.99
Pork Chops1 lbUS$1.99
Beef Steak1 lbUS$6.99
Bacon1 lbUS$2.99
Eggs1 dozenUS$1.49
Butter1 lbUS$2.99

Canada

Deal depth — how far below the government average this week's best prices ran

National median across every city × staple meat, vs the official average (StatCan / BLS). Higher = deeper deals — a strong flyer week.

week of May 18 — 24%May 1824%week of May 25 — 15%May 2515%week of Jun 1 — 30%Jun 1week of Jun 8 — 28%Jun 8week of Jun 15 — 21%Jun 15week of Jun 22 — 25%Jun 22week of Jun 29 — 27%Jun 29week of Jul 6 — 31%Jul 6week of Jul 13 — 26%Jul 13week of Jul 20 — 31%Jul 20week of Jul 27 — 38%Jul 2738%week of Aug 3 — 32%Aug 3week of Aug 10 — 30%Aug 1030%

The basket of best — C$, at each week's best advertised prices

Deal prices, not shelf prices: what the staples basket cost a shopper who grabbed each week's best advertised deal.

week of May 18 — C$39.00May 18C$39.00week of May 25 — C$42.12May 25week of Jun 1 — C$38.32Jun 1week of Jun 8 — C$44.87Jun 8C$44.87week of Jun 15 — C$43.63Jun 15week of Jun 22 — C$39.52Jun 22week of Jun 29 — C$41.81Jun 29week of Jul 6 — C$39.33Jul 6week of Jul 13 — C$39.12Jul 13week of Jul 20 — C$42.91Jul 20week of Jul 27 — C$37.66Jul 27week of Aug 3 — C$36.99Aug 3week of Aug 10 — C$35.94Aug 10C$35.94
Latest week's per-item medians (Aug 10) ▾
Chicken Breast1 lbC$3.99
Ground Beef1 lbC$5.77
Pork Chops1 lbC$2.99
Beef Steak1 lbC$10.88
Bacon1 lbC$3.50
Eggs1 dozenC$3.93
Butter1 lbC$4.88

Honest limitations

Weekly-best selection is a minimum statistic — noisier than an average, smoothed here by taking the median across 100+ cities. Promotional floors are sticky (a $1.99/lb chicken week can repeat), so short-run moves reflect flyer cycles as much as underlying prices. The series is young (since May 2026) and sharpens every week. The basket: 1 lb chicken breast · 1 lb ground beef · 1 lb pork chops · 1 lb beef steak · 1 lb bacon · 1 dozen eggs · 1 lb butter. Currencies are never merged — the two countries chart separately. Full methodology: how we choose.

Use this data

Free to quote or chart with attribution: "Lowtein Basket Tracker" linked to this page (CC BY 4.0). ⬇ Download the weekly series (JSON) · questions: contact@lowtein.com

Updated 2026-08-17 · Grocery Price Index · US prices · Canada prices · Australia prices · UK prices · lowtein.com