5 Things Floridians Pay More For at Publix Than They Realize

A Stet News price check published in January 2026 priced the same 30-item cart in Palm Beach County, Florida, at the four chains that stocked every item.

The gap ran $46.47, from Aldi’s $63.15 up to Publix’s $109.62.

Admittedly, Publix doesn’t sell itself as a low-cost grocery like Aldi does.

These are the things Floridians pay more for at Publix than they realize.

1. Fresh Blueberries

Publix sells an 11-ounce package of fresh blueberries for around $6.63, according to a GoBankingRates article published in February 2026. Target sells an 11.2-ounce container for $4.49, a $2.14 gap that works out to almost 48% more at Publix.

Broken down by the ounce, that’s about 60 cents at Publix versus roughly 40 cents at Target.

That’s $2.14 a box.

Produce prices swing by season everywhere, and GoBankingRates doesn’t say where or when it collected these two prices.

It’s a small container with a surprisingly big gap.

2. Ready-Made Pie Crusts

Publix charged $4.48 for a box of two ready-made pie crusts on Oct. 28, 2025, according to a Stet News price check published Nov. 25, 2025.

Aldi’s box of two ran $1.95 that day.

That’s under half Publix’s price.

Walmart came in at $2.71 and Winn-Dixie at $3.50.

The only price Stet reported above Publix’s came from The Fresh Market: $11.49 for a box of two from DuFour, a luxury brand.

Stet didn’t name the brands on the other shelves, so the comparison runs by shelf price, not by matched label.

Those late-October prices also fed the 30-item cart Stet published in January 2026, where Aldi, Walmart, Winn-Dixie and Publix were the only chains carrying every item.

Publix’s cart came to $109.62, the highest of the four.

Walmart’s came to $76.65, and Winn-Dixie’s to $105.67.

3. Butter

A pound of butter, any brand, averaged $4.79 at Publix on Oct. 28, 2025, according to a Stet News price survey published Nov. 24, 2025. The same pound averaged $3.49 at Aldi and $3.67 at Walmart.

Stet News, a Palm Beach County outlet, sent 10 reporters into 19 area grocery stores to collect those prices. The butter figure covers a pound of any brand on the shelf, not one label matched across chains.

Publix wasn’t the most expensive stop. Stet put Winn-Dixie and Whole Foods at $4.49 a pound and The Fresh Market at $7.99, the only price above Publix’s.

Against Walmart, that’s about 31% more for a pound of butter. Against Aldi, it’s closer to 37%.

Butter doesn’t feel like a decision. It goes in the cart on the way past the dairy case, at a price close to what a shopper assumes it should be.

That dollar is the gap. A household buying a pound a week pays roughly $58 more a year against the Walmart price, and about $68 more against Aldi’s.

It’s easy to miss.

4. Hot Rotisserie Chicken

Publix's hot rotisserie chicken runs about $8.85 in the Jacksonville area, compared with $5.97 for Walmart's hot rotisserie chicken, according to an April 2026 Florida Times-Union price check.

The sizes don't line up. The same price check puts Walmart's hot rotisserie chicken at 2.25 pounds, but it lists no weight for the Publix bird.

Nearly $3 a bird.

That's $2.88 more per bird at Publix. The same price check put Costco's rotisserie chicken at $4.99 and Sam's Club's at $4.98.

Publix's bird costs nearly half again what Walmart's does.

5. Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes cost $1.51 a pound at Publix on Oct. 28, 2025, in that same Stet News survey. Aldi sold a pound for 65 cents that day, the lowest sweet potato price Stet found.

Whole Foods and The Fresh Market both came in at about $1.40 a pound. Publix landed above both of them, and above every other store Stet visited.

That ordering is the part worth sitting with. Two chains known for premium pricing sold sweet potatoes for less than Publix did on the same day, in the same survey.

Sweet potatoes don't carry a brand. There's no recipe on the package and no label to line up against a competitor's.

A pound at one store is the same pound at another, which is what makes the spread hard to explain and easy to skip past.

Three pounds a week at the Aldi difference runs about $2.58 a trip. Across a year that's roughly $134 on one vegetable.

Produce also goes on a scale at the register. The number lands after the choice is made, folded into the total with everything else in the cart.

It rarely draws notice.

Two Publix Rules at the Register

Publix's shelf tags are only part of what a cart costs. Two published Publix policies move the number at the register, and neither one shows up in a basket comparison.

The first is how a buy-one-get-one-free offer works. Publix says that in some states a shopper may purchase one of the promotional item at half price.

In other states, the company says, both items must be purchased, one of which will be free.

Florida is a both-items state.

So a BOGO is a two-item decision. One unit at half price isn't an option at a Florida Publix, which makes the shelf tag on a BOGO week a poor guide to what leaves the store.

The second is the Publix Promise. Publix says that if the scanned price of an item exceeds the shelf price or advertised price during checkout, it will give the customer one of that item free.