中产阶级应对食品价格上涨的10种方式

4.Shopping at Discount and Warehouse Stores
The parking lots at Aldi, Lidl, Costco, and Sam's Club tell the whole story. Middle-class shoppers who once exclusively frequented premium supermarkets are now loading up carts at discount chains without any sense of embarrassment. About a third of shoppers switched to dollar or discount stores in 2024, with roughly two thirds of them citing lower prices as their main reason.

4光顾折扣店和仓储式超市
阿尔迪、利德尔、开市客和山姆会员店的停车场就能说明一切。那些曾经只去高端超市的中产阶级消费者，如今毫无尴尬地在折扣连锁店装满购物车。2024年，约三分之一的消费者转去一元店或折扣店购物，其中约三分之二的人将低价列为主要原因。

Warehouse clubs and supercenters, including Costco and Sam's Club, grew from roughly eight percent of at-home food spending in 1997 to more than twenty-three percent in recent years, reflecting the enduring appeal of bulk savings for larger households. That figure is not just a trend. It represents a structural shift in how Americans think about where to buy food.

从1997年到近年，开市客、山姆会员店等仓储式会员超市和大型综合超市的消费占居家食品支出的比例，从约8%攀升至23%以上，这反映出大宗采购省钱的模式对人口较多的家庭始终具有吸引力。这一数字不仅是一种趋势，更代表着美国人食品购买渠道观念的结构性转变。

Consumers are paying approximately thirty percent more for groceries compared to 2019, which has swayed many toward shopping in value channels like dollar stores, warehouse clubs, and online platforms, alongside choosing private label and premium products over mainstream brands. The middle class is shopping smarter, not just cheaper.

与2019年相比，消费者购买食品杂货的支出增加了约30%，这使得许多人转向一元店、仓储式超市、线上平台等性价比渠道购物，同时也更愿意选择自有品牌和高端产品，而非主流品牌。中产阶级的购物方式变得更精明，而非单纯追求低价。

5.Meal planning to Reduce Waste and Control Spending
Meal planning used to sound like something only extremely organized people with color-coded calendars did. Today, it is becoming a mainstream survival strategy for middle-income households. Think of it like a financial budget but for your refrigerator.

5.规划饮食，减少浪费、控制开支
过去，饮食规划似乎只有那些用彩色标记日历、做事极度有条理的人才会做。如今，它已成为中等收入家庭的主流生存策略。可以把它理解为为冰箱制定的财务预算。

Without a plan, money disappears into spoiled produce and forgotten leftovers. A Deloitte study found that more than half of consumers cite meal planning as a pain point, suggesting that while many want to do it, it remains a challenge to implement consistently. The demand for better tools, meal kit services, and grocery-lixed planning apps has surged as a result.

没有规划，钱就会浪费在腐烂的食材和被遗忘的剩菜上。德勤的一项研究发现，超半数消费者认为饮食规划是件麻烦事，这意味着尽管很多人想这么做，但始终难以坚持执行。因此，市场对更优质的规划工具、预制食材配送服务和与食品采购关联的规划类应用的需求激增。

Retailers are picking up on this and offering more integrated solutions. Shoppers are prioritizing core items needed for meals and cutting out luxuries or experimentations with new products. This focus on intentional, purposeful shopping trips is not about deprivation.

零售商也察觉到这一需求，开始提供更一体化的解决方案。消费者会优先采购做饭所需的核心食材，砍掉奢侈品项，也不再尝试新商品。这种有目的、有计划的购物方式，并非是节衣缩食。

It is about efficiency. The less food that goes in the trash, the less money wasted on every single grocery run.

而是为了提升效率。扔进垃圾桶的食物越少，每次采购食品杂货的浪费就越少。

6.Reducing Spending on Expensive Proteins Like Beef and Eggs
Beef and eggs became the two most talked-about grocery items of the past two years, and not for good reasons. Egg prices rose more than eight percent across products in 2024 due to a resurgence of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, while the second largest price increase was in beef and veal prices, which climbed more than five percent. Among all food categories in early 2025, eggs saw the most significant price increase, up over forty percent year-over-year, driven by supply disruptions caused by avian influenza.

6.减少牛肉、鸡蛋等高价蛋白质的支出
过去两年，牛肉和鸡蛋成了食品杂货中最受热议的两类商品，却并非出于利好原因。2024年，因高致病性禽流感卷土重来，各类鸡蛋产品价格涨幅超8%；涨幅第二的是牛肉和小牛肉，价格攀升超5%。2025年初，在所有食品品类中，鸡蛋价格同比涨幅最为显著，超40%，这仍是禽流感引发的供应中断所致。

Beef prices also rose sharply, by roughly eight to ten percent, largely due to smaller cattle herds resulting from past drought and feed cost pressures. Many consumers have cut back on fresh meat purchases or switched to cheaper options like ground beef, chicken, or plant-based proteins such as beans and lentils. In the year following large price increases, consumers reduced their share of food spending on most animal-based protein products.

牛肉价格也大幅上涨，涨幅约8%至10%，主要原因是此前的干旱和饲料成本上涨导致牛群存栏量减少。许多消费者减少了新鲜肉类的购买，或转向更便宜的选择，比如碎牛肉、鸡肉，或是豆类、小扁豆等植物性蛋白。在食品价格大幅上涨后的一年里，消费者在大多数动物源性蛋白产品上的消费占比有所下降。

Per gram, these products are among the more expensive foods, so consumers choose less expensive substitutes in response to price hikes.

按克计价，这些蛋白产品属于价格较高的食品，因此面对涨价，消费者会选择更便宜的替代品。

7.Comparing Prices Across Multiple Stores
Gone are the days of loyalty to a single supermarket. The modern middle-class shopper is essentially operating like a professional price analyst before hitting the aisles. A striking seventy-five percent of survey respondents said the primary reason for choosing one store over another is simply that it offers the best prices.

7.对比多家超市的价格
对某一家超市保持消费忠诚的日子早已一去不返。如今的中产阶级消费者，在走进超市货架前，活脱脱像一名专业的价格分析师。一项惊人的调查数据显示，75%的受访者表示，选择一家超市而非另一家的主要原因，仅仅是其价格最优惠。

Half of all surveyed shoppers visit two different stores each month, and roughly a quarter visit three or more. Doing a lap between stores to cherry-pick deals used to seem extreme. Now it is a perfectly rational response to a stretched budget.

半数受访消费者每月会去两家不同的超市购物，约四分之一的消费者会去三家及以上。过去，辗转多家超市挑选优惠商品似乎显得过于极端，如今，面对紧张的预算，这成了一种完全合理的选择。

Gasoline prices dropped enough in recent years that multi-store runs have become economically sensible for many households. Many shoppers are comparing prices before making purchases, with about one in six always comparing retailer prices and another quarter often doing the same before buying. Smartphone apps, loyalty programs, and store-specific digital coupons make this easier than ever.

近年来汽油价格大幅回落，对许多家庭而言，跑多家超市购物在经济上变得划算。许多消费者会在购物前比价，约六分之一的消费者每次购物都会对比零售商价格，另有四分之一的消费者经常这么做。智能手机应用、会员计划和各超市专属的电子优惠券，让比价变得前所未有的容易。

The information advantage that retailers once held over consumers is shrinking fast.

零售商曾经相对消费者拥有的信息优势，正迅速缩小。

8.Cutting Back on Non-Essential Grocery Items
When budgets tighten, specialty crackers, exotic snacks, and the third type of hummus are usually the first things to go. Data shows that more than half of consumers reported cutting back on non-essentials by late 2024, up from just over half at the start of the same year. The trend accelerated as cumulative inflation continued to bite.

8.削减非必需食品杂货的支出
当预算收紧时，特色饼干、进口零食、第三种口味的鹰嘴豆泥，往往会成为最先被砍掉的开支。数据显示，2024年末，超半数消费者表示削减了非必需品支出，而该年初这一比例仅略超半数。随着通胀的持续累积，这一趋势还在加速。

Rising food prices are forcing many consumers to rethink their grocery budgets entirely. Over the six months preceding the survey, more than four in ten respondents said they had somewhat reduced grocery spending, while more than one in seven reported making significant cuts. That is a meaningful portion of the shopping population tightening its belt.

食品价格上涨迫使许多消费者彻底重新规划食品杂货预算。在调查前的六个月里，超四成受访者表示小幅削减了食品杂货支出，超七分之一的受访者表示大幅削减了该项开支。这意味着相当一部分消费者正在勒紧裤腰带。

Many families have shifted toward cheaper, less healthy options such as more processed or shelf-stable foods as part of their cost-cutting measures. This is one of the more troubling trade-offs. Saving money on groceries should not have to mean sacrificing nutritional quality, yet for many middle-class households, that tension is very real and increasingly difficult to navigate.

作为省钱手段，许多家庭转向更便宜、也更不健康的选择，比如更多的加工食品或耐储存食品。这是一种令人忧心的取舍。省钱买食品，本不该意味着牺牲营养品质，但对许多中产阶级家庭而言，这种矛盾真实存在，且愈发难以调和。

9.Using Loyalty Programs and Store Apps to Maximize Savings
Almost every major supermarket chain now offers a digital loyalty program, and middle-class shoppers are finally taking them seriously. These apps have become indispensable tools for households trying to squeeze every last dollar out of a grocery run. Personalized coupons, cashback rewards, and exclusive member pricing can add up to significant annual savings.

9.利用会员计划和超市应用，实现省钱最大化
如今，几乎所有大型连锁超市都推出了电子会员计划，中产阶级消费者终于开始认真对待这些计划。对于想要把食品采购开支花到极致的家庭来说，这些应用已成了必不可少的工具。个性化优惠券、返现奖励和专属会员价，累计起来能带来可观的年度储蓄。

Consumer confidence in controlling food spending reached as high as eighty-five percent in late 2024, and in response, shoppers report using various strategies to stretch their food budgets further. Loyalty programs are front and center in that strategy. Retailers have invested heavily in personalizing these tools because they know cost-conscious shoppers will go wherever the best deal lives.

2024年末，消费者对控制食品支出的信心高达85%，正因如此，消费者会采取各种策略进一步节省食品预算，而会员计划是其中的核心策略。零售商在个性化这些工具上投入巨资，因为他们知道，注重成本的消费者会追随最优惠的价格而去。

The grocery shopping landscape has become dynamic as consumers navigate rising costs and shifting priorities. While supermarkets still dominate, the growing shift toward discount stores and a sharper focus on deals reflects a new era of cost-conscious shopping. Loyalty programs bridge the gap, giving shoppers a reason to keep coming back to a store they trust while still feeling financially smart about it.

随着消费者应对物价上涨、调整消费优先级，食品杂货的购物格局也变得充满变化。尽管超市仍占据主导地位，但向折扣店的持续转型、对优惠活动的高度关注，标志着一个注重成本的购物新时代的到来。会员计划则起到了桥梁作用，既让消费者有理由继续光顾自己信任的超市，又能让他们在消费时觉得自己精打细算。

10.Stocking Up During Sales and Buying in Bulk
Buying in bulk is the grocery equivalent of buying wholesale, and it has never been more popular. When canned goods, pasta, rice, or frozen items go on sale, savvy middle-class shoppers are not just grabbing one. They are clearing the shelf.

10.趁促销囤货，批量采购
批量采购食品，相当于以批发价购物，这种方式如今迎来了前所未有的流行。当罐头、意面、大米或冷冻食品打折时，精明的中产阶级消费者不会只拿一份，而是会直接清空货架。

About four in ten consumers stock up during sales as one of their primary behavioral adaptations to rising food prices. From 1997 to 2024, spending at warehouse clubs and supercenters surged from twenty-five billion dollars to two hundred and fifty-three billion dollars, a staggering nine hundred percent jump. That extraordinary growth reflects just how deeply the bulk-buying mindset has embedded itself into American consumer culture, especially among cost-conscious middle-income families.

约四成消费者将趁促销囤货作为应对食品价格上涨的主要行为策略之一。1997年至2024年，仓储式会员超市和大型综合超市的消费额从250亿美元飙升至2530亿美元，涨幅高达900%。这一惊人的增长足以说明，批量采购的理念已深深融入美国的消费文化，尤其在注重成本的中等收入家庭中。

Think of it like this: buying three jars of pasta sauce at a buy-two-get-one deal is essentially locking in today's price before it rises again next month. It is not hoarding. It is hedging.

可以这么理解：以“买二送一”的价格买三罐意面酱，本质上是锁定当下的价格，避免下个月涨价。这不是囤积，而是对冲物价上涨的风险。

Sales play a significant role in consumer behavior, especially for meat, eggs, and other high-cost items, with many shoppers specifically waiting for discounts before making these purchases. In 2026, overall food prices are predicted to rise three point one percent, which means the bulk-buying math only gets more compelling as time goes on. What is truly remarkable about all of this is not the individual strategies themselves, but the collective intelligence behind them.

促销活动对消费者行为影响显著，尤其是肉类、鸡蛋等高价商品，许多消费者会特意等打折后再购买。2026年，食品整体价格预计将上涨3.1%，这意味着随着时间推移，批量采购的经济账会变得更划算。这一切真正值得称道的，并非这些单独的应对策略，而是背后体现的集体智慧。

Middle-class Americans are not passively absorbing higher prices. They are pushing back with data, planning, and behavioral discipline that even financial experts might admire. The pressure is real, but so is the resourcefulness.

美国的中产阶级并非被动承受物价上涨，而是凭借连金融专家或许都会赞赏的数据分析、规划能力和行为自律加以应对。压力真实存在，但他们的应变智慧也同样亮眼。

What would you have changed first in your own grocery habits? Drop your thoughts in the comments below. 

您会最先改变自己的哪一个食品采购习惯？在下方评论区分享你的想法吧。