LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On her Kroger grocery run today, Paula Isbell noticed a difference in her typical receipt saying she see could, "a little change."
And so did Mary Lassiter, who said: "I don't get to buy as much as I normally would."
And they're not alone. On Friday, the nation's biggest supermarket chain credited inflation for their expected rising prices.
Kroger's CFO, Gary Millerchip said they're "working with suppliers" to manage increases and "passing along higher costs to the customer where it makes sense to do so."
But price hikes aren't just at Kroger. Amid the pandemic, food prices everywhere are on the rise.
In fact, the Department of Labor reported an 8.3% increase in wholesale level inflation from August of 2020 to last month. That's the highest number since they began measuring that scale in 2010.
Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston said: "the supply chain has really been interrupted and therefore when the supply is short and the demand is high, prices are going to increase."
And Steve Goode, Executive Director of Arkansas Grocers and Retail Merchants Association said the supply chain isn't the only roadblock. "There's a real labor shortage right now. Especially at the manufacturing and processing level," he said.
And that all trickles down to local grocery aisles. Making shoppers more cautious of their next trip to the store.
The Grocers Association said shoppers can particularly expect to see price hikes in items like corn, potato chips, soft drinks, meat, and bottled water.
As Arkansans adapt to changing price tags.
"You better tap into your natural resources around your surrounding area and appreciate that we're in the natural state where we can get fresh produce from farms," Isbell said.