Stop & Shop Promises Lower Chicken Prices Are Here to Stay, and Nutmeggers Can Hold It to That
In February, Stop & Shop said its store-brand chicken drum value packs dropped from $1.89 a pound to $1.29.
Eight months later, its chicken hasn’t skyrocketed in price like many other grocery stores.
Stop & Shop promises that lower chicken prices are here to stay, as many Connecticut residents can attest to.
February Announcement
Stop & Shop announced lower everyday chicken prices in a Feb. 2, 2026 news release, effective before the Big Game.
If you shop at a Stop & Shop, the release says its stores across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are covered.
It adds that prices and availability may vary by location.
The release said you’d find the lower prices on national brands such as Perdue and Bell & Evans, and on private brands such as Stop & Shop’s Nature’s Promise chicken.
Wings, tenders and drums are among the most popular football snacks, the release added.
In the release, Roger Wheeler, Stop & Shop’s president, said the lower chicken prices are here to stay.
The news site WFSB covered the announcement the same day under the headline “Grocery chain lowers chicken prices ahead of Super Bowl.”
Was and Now Prices
Nine examples in Stop & Shop’s release show the everyday chicken prices behind that promise, each with a was price and a now price.
If you buy drums, the store-brand value pack shows the deepest percentage drop of the nine, from $1.89 a pound to $1.29.
The release prints that drop as 38%, but those two prices work out to about 32%.
Next come store-brand boneless breast value packs, from $3.99 a pound to $2.99, about 25%, and thigh value packs, from $1.89 to $1.49, about 21%.
At 40 cents a pound, the thigh drop is the only one under 50 cents.
Store-brand wing value packs, from $4.19 to $3.59, come in at about 14%.
Perdue’s drums went from $2.99 a pound to $2.49, about 17%, and its tenders from $7.29 to $6.49, about 11%.
Bell & Evans boneless breasts, the priciest example at $11.99 a pound, went to $10.49, about 13%.
That’s $1.50 off a pound, the largest dollar drop of the nine.
A one-pound Bell & Evans wings tray went from $6.99 to $5.99, about 14%, and Nature’s Promise tenders from $10.49 to $9.49, about 10%.
Across the nine examples, the drops range from about 10% to 32%.
If you compare a tag with these numbers, match the brand and pack size, since the release lists store-brand value packs and national-brand packs separately.
Stop & Shop’s Sale Prices vs. Everyday Prices
Stop & Shop’s release lists weekly sales apart from its everyday prices, saying more than 10,000 items go on sale every week.
It lists Deal Lock separately too, saying the program locks in low prices on hundreds of items for several weeks at a time.
So a chicken tag below the release’s now price may be a weekly sale price, not a new everyday price.
Reading the Shelf Tag
In February, Stop & Shop said you could spot the new chicken prices by yellow tags and signage highlighting “More Cluck for Your Buck.”
Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) says in its unit-pricing guide that a shelf label shows a larger item price and a smaller unit price.
For fresh meat and poultry, the guide says the unit is the pound.
The release lists all nine examples per pound, so you can set the unit price on a chicken tag beside them.
DCP’s unit-pricing page says the requirement covers anyone who sells consumer commodities at retail, with price information on a tag or label next to the item.
The page adds that a printed ad comparing sizes of the same product has to show the unit price whenever it shows the total price.
If you find an overcharge, the guide says to go to the service desk and have it corrected.
Psst! How much do you know about chicken? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Chicken Counter Quiz
Answer these questions on chicken labels, safety and grocery trivia. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
A package of chicken says “no hormones added.” What else does USDA require that label to say?
Get One Free Law
Connecticut's Get One Free law can apply when a Stop & Shop register scans certain items above the posted price, according to DCP.
DCP's page on the law says you're entitled to the item free, up to $20, when it scans higher than the sticker price or the shelf price.
The law covers consumer commodities, and the page lists groceries among them.
You have to point out the error at checkout and ask for the free item, the page says, and you may need to ask for a manager.
Only the first $20 is free, and you pay the posted price for any amount above that.
An item that scans lower than the posted price lets you buy one at the lower scanned price, with no free item.
Clearly dated expired sale stickers don't qualify, according to the page.
If the store doesn't fix a problem, DCP takes complaints online or by mail, email or fax, and it asks you to use only one method.
Limits of the Promise
The release behind Stop & Shop's promise calls its nine chicken prices examples of the new everyday prices.
DCP's rules measure your register total against the price posted at your store, not against the February figures.
DCP says to allow up to a week for it to confirm it received your complaint.
If you file a complaint and DCP can help, the agency says it contacts the business for a reasonable resolution, which can take four or more weeks.
DCP also says it opens investigations to protect consumers in the future, not to represent individual complainants.
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