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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 — 46%May 1846%week of May 25 — 48%May 25week of Jun 1 — 45%Jun 1week of Jun 8 — 42%Jun 842%week of Jun 15 — 48%Jun 15week of Jun 22 — 52%Jun 2252%week of Jun 29 — 52%Jun 2952%week of Jul 6 — 44%Jul 6week of Jul 13 — 47%Jul 1347%

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 22US$23.64week of Jun 29 — US$24.43Jun 29week of Jul 6 — US$25.89Jul 6week of Jul 13 — US$25.78Jul 13US$25.78
Latest week's per-item medians (Jul 13) ▾
Chicken Breast1 lbUS$2.04
Ground Beef1 lbUS$4.99
Pork Chops1 lbUS$1.99
Beef Steak1 lbUS$7.99
Bacon1 lbUS$3.79
Eggs1 dozenUS$1.99
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 — 19%May 1819%week of May 25 — 22%May 25week of Jun 1 — 32%Jun 132%week of Jun 8 — 25%Jun 8week of Jun 15 — 18%Jun 1518%week of Jun 22 — 27%Jun 22week of Jun 29 — 27%Jun 29week of Jul 6 — 32%Jul 6week of Jul 13 — 27%Jul 1327%

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 1C$38.32week 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 13C$39.12
Latest week's per-item medians (Jul 13) ▾
Chicken Breast1 lbC$4.99
Ground Beef1 lbC$5.77
Pork Chops1 lbC$3.62
Beef Steak1 lbC$11.88
Bacon1 lbC$4.00
Eggs1 dozenC$3.88
Butter1 lbC$4.98

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 2026-07-18 · Grocery Price Index · US prices · Canada prices · lowtein.com