US groceries cost $741 more than in 2020: What’s gone up the most
You are buying the same cart of groceries you bought in 2020. Same brands, same store, same list. The bill, though, is a different story.
A new InvestorsObserver analysis tracked the prices and package sizes of America’s most popular grocery brands over six years, from 2020 to 2026. The average family of four is now spending $741 more per year for the same groceries.
And $41 of that increase never showed up on a price tag. It disappeared quietly inside a smaller bag, through a strategy called shrinkflation, where brands put less product in the same package without raising the sticker price.
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Frosted Flakes
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pulled the classic two-move playbook: raise prices first, then quietly shrink the box. In 2022, a family-size 24oz box cost $3.98. By 2024, it had shrunk to 21.7oz and cost $5.48. That is more than two full servings gone, at a higher price. Overall, the price per serving is up 51% since 2020.
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Doritos
Doritos hit shoppers twice without them noticing. In 2022, the price jumped from $4.79 to $5.99. Then in 2023, the price held steady while the bag shrank from 15.5oz to 14.5oz, losing roughly one full serving. By 2026, a 14.4oz bag costs $6.69, smaller and $1.90 more expensive than it was just five years earlier.
Image Credit: Cheerios.
Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios shrank its family-size box while raising prices, then offered a small price cut in 2026, dropping from $4.93 to $4.44. The gesture looks generous until you check the baseline. The box is still smaller than it was in 2020, and the price is still 22% higher than six years ago.
Image Credit: Lay’s.
Lay’s
Lay’s Classic held its 13-oz package size throughout the six years, which sets it apart from the shrinkflation offenders. It did not escape the price wave, though, posting double-digit increases in 2022 alongside the broader market spike. By 2026, prices had frozen flat, stopping well above where they started in 2020.
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Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola tells the most complete story because it sells the same drink in four formats at four very different costs per ounce. The 2-liter bottle rose 48%, from $1.89 to $2.79. The 12-pack of cans jumped 82%. The mini cans cost 126% more per ounce than the 2-liter bottle, and the company calls it “portion innovation.”
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M&M’s
M&M’s is the worst offender in the dataset. A family-size bag cost $4.99 in 2020 and $9.49 by 2026. Mars shrank the bag from 19.2oz to 18.08oz in 2024 while prices were still rising, then raised them another 6.7% in 2026. The price per ounce has more than doubled over the six years, up 102%.
Image Credit: Courtesy Image of Skittles
Skittles
Skittles avoided the shrinkflation playbook, holding its sharing-size package at 15.6oz throughout the entire period. That is the good news. The price, however, rose 44% since 2020. No missing ounces, but shoppers are paying significantly more for the same bag they have always bought.
Image Credit: Depositphotos.com.
Cheetos
Cheetos Crunchy was among the brands that posted double-digit price increases in 2022, the single biggest year of inflation across the entire dataset. By 2026, prices had leveled off. The package size held steady, placing Cheetos in the same category as Lay’s and Skittles: real price growth, but no shrinkflation.
Image credit: eBay
Fruity Pebbles
Fruity Pebbles was tracked by InvestorsObserver for price trends across the period. The 19.5oz box climbed in price alongside the broader cereal category, with the sharpest increases concentrated in 2022. Post held the package size, keeping Fruity Pebbles free of the shrinkflation label that hit its rival Frosted Flakes particularly hard.
Image Credit: lucigerma/iStock
Wrap up
Nine of the 16 brands tracked held prices flat between 2025 and 2026, and a pause in increases is welcome. But every brand that shrank a package between 2022 and 2024 has kept the new smaller size. No brand has restored what it took away. The smaller bag is now the standard, with the $741 annual gap sitting permanently between what families paid in 2020 and what they pay today.
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