Woman documents the shocking price of groceries in Hawaii (2024)

A woman has lifted the lid on how the already high prices of food in Hawaii have soared due to inflation after spending nearly $300 on one of her shopping trips.

TikTok influencer Kylie Park, who has more than 365,000 followers, went viral after documenting what it's like to go grocery shopping on the island of O‘ahu, where a gallon of milk now costs nearly $10.

Food has always been expensive in Hawaii because it is mostly imported from the mainland, but she has claimed the price of some everyday items has doubled over the past year.

'I'm going to show you guys how expensive groceries are in Hawaii,' she said before grabbing a loaf of sweet bread off the shelf.'For this sweet bread, it's $8.49. This used to be like $4 before.'

Park continued to pick up items as she walked through the store. Next up was a six-ounce container of organic blueberries that cost $6.49.

She then pointed out that a 52-ounce bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing was priced at a whopping $15.59. The 36-ounce bottle wasn't much cheaper at $11.49.

In comparison to mainland prices, the same size bottles are listed for $10.00 and $5.98, respectively, on Walmart's website.

'So here's the big ticket item,' she said when she grabbed a gallon of milk, which was being sold for $9.49.

A 12-pack ofStonyfield Organic Kids' Strawberry Yogurt Smoothies retailed for $8.49, but that was nothing compared to the cost of children's cereal.

An11.5-ounce box of Cocoa Pebbles Crunch'd cereal was priced at $7.99, while a 19.5-ounce box of Fruity Pebbles was being sold for $8.99 — or $7.99 for shoppers with membership cards.

A 12-pack of Annie's Organic Chewy Granola Bars costs $12.99 for non-members and $8.99 for members. A bottle of Simply Orange juice was also on special for $6.99, just $0.50 less than its original price of $7.49.

Without a membership, a bag of Mission tortillas cost $7.49, a 12-pack of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn was priced at $9.99, and a 24-pack of Dasani water was going for $10.99.

A dozen eggs were being sold for $7.89, sliced sandwich meat cost around $8, and a pack of bacon was originally priced at $10.99.

Park revealed at the end of the video that her grocery order cost a total of $297.

'There's so much more where that came from,' she wrote in the caption. 'I know everywhere is expensive now [because] of inflation but geez.'

Hawaii is the most expensive state for groceries, according to recent data from Move.org. The average cost of groceries in Honolulu is$556.76 — $200 more than the national average of $355.50.

Park's video comes at a time when many are reeling from the sky-rocketing cost of food in their own areas.

Inflation dipped in November, rising at an annual rate of 7.1 percent, but grocery prices remained elevated. Food at home prices jumped by 12 percent compared to the same month in 2021, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The price of eggs shot up a whopping 49.1 percent. Canned fruit and vegetables had an 18.4 percent increase, while cereals and bakery products rose by 16.4 percent. Milk also saw a significant increase of 14.7 percent.

A report from Moody's Analytics showed that families spent an estimated $72 more on food per month on average in December than they did the year before.

However, many companies are also experiencing record profits at a time of high inflation, leading to accusations of price gouging from squeezed Americans.

Corporate profits in the non-financial sector reached a record high of $2.08 trillion in the third fiscal quarter, The Hill reported in late November.

'There are other factors that contribute to inflation that have not received enough attention,' subcommittee Chairman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said at a September hearing of the Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

'One of those factors is extreme price hikes — in other words, companies raising prices far more than required to offset higher costs even when accounting for shifts in supply and demand, resulting in the highest profit margins we have ever seen in the last 70 years.'

Park's video has been viewed more than 1.1 million times, and many were shocked by the price of milk and ranch dress. However, others insisted their mainland grocery stores have similar price points with the exception of a few items.

'Other than the milk everything same price here in Michigan,' one person wrote, while another admitted, 'The way I gasped at the price of the ranch and milk.'

'My stepdaughter lives in Hawaii and it’s always been more expensive there,' someone else noted. 'A lot is everything is flown or transported by boat.'