The prices are very inconspicuous.
If celery was $1.19 and now its $2.50 that’s over 100% increase in price.
It is happening on everything.
People think an item is reasonable at $1 but if the price was 50c previously, they will be in for a shock when the cashier tallys all the items.
What else is happening is the downsizing of packages. What used to be a 9ounce box is now only 7.5 ounces. The package itself, and the price, stay the same, but the amount of content changes and thus the price per unit goes up.
It never ceases to amaze me how few people actually pay attention to unit pricing.
I make a lot of jelly and preserves, and so use a lot of sugar. I used to buy it in 10lb bags until I noticed the price per ounce was less in the 5 lb bags. Now I buy 4lb bags because the price per ounce is even lower. 12lbs of sugar in the 4lb bags is actually cheaper than a 10lb bag.
Bigger is definitely not always better :)
I have even noticed a .50 increase in a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk in the last month.