NPR Tracked 114 Walmart Items for a Year. These 9 Price Jumps Should Worry Virginia Shoppers

At one Walmart in Liberty County, Georgia, a dozen eggs became 30% cheaper in a year, according to NPR’s price check there.

Eggs fell the most, but others fell too.

The not-so-sunny side is that many other items went the other way.

These are the price jumps NPR tracked at Walmart that will worry Virginians and Americans across the country who are living paycheck to paycheck.

How the Price Check Worked

NPR tracked prices at a suburban Walmart superstore south of Savannah, in Liberty County, Georgia.

NPR says its reporters went through almost every aisle at the store to come up with a list of 114 items.

To account for possible changes in package sizes, NPR focused on the price per unit.

Across the whole basket, prices rose 5% on average over the year, NPR found.

NPR found that almost half the items on its list got more expensive in 2025.

One store isn’t every Walmart.

You may see different prices on the shelves where you shop.

These are the price jumps NPR named, starting with the largest.

1. Maxwell House Ground Coffee

Maxwell House ground Colombian coffee rose 46% in 2025, according to NPR’s price check.

Say you paid $10 for a canister a year earlier. You would now pay $14.60 for it, or $55.20 more over twelve months of canisters.

NPR ties the cost of coffee beans to erratic rainfall, floods and droughts on farmland.

Kraft Heinz, which owns Maxwell House, told NPR that raw materials cost unprecedented amounts, and that it has taken on or offset part of those costs.

2. Walmart’s Store-Brand Paper Folders

Walmart’s store-brand paper folders, made in China, rose 46% in NPR’s price check.

NPR places the folders among the biggest jumps on imports from heavily tariffed countries.

Say you paid $1 for each of ten folders a year earlier. You would now pay $14.60 for the ten.

Walmart didn’t comment to NPR on tariffs.

3. Maxwell House K-Cups

Maxwell House breakfast K-Cups rose 34% in NPR’s price check, the brand’s second entry on this list.

Ground coffee rose 46% and the pods rose 34%, so however you brew Maxwell House, you pay more than a year earlier.

4. Swai Fish Fillets

Swai fish fillets from Vietnam went up 34% in NPR’s price check.

The fillets rose by the same percentage as the Maxwell House K-Cups, so you would see the same 34% on fish and on pods.

NPR groups swai with imports from countries facing hefty tariffs.

5. Ground Beef

A pound of ground beef went up 30% at the Liberty County Walmart in 2025.

NPR points to a U.S. beef supply at its lowest in decades, which has pushed cattle prices to record highs, partly because of drought.

Say a pound cost $5 a year earlier. You would now pay $6.50, and four pounds for a cookout cost you $26, up from $20.

6. Hershey’s and Lindt Chocolate

Hershey’s and Lindt chocolates jumped around 26% in NPR’s price check.

Say you paid $4 for a bag of chocolate a year earlier. At 26% more, you would pay $5.04.

NPR points to short cacao harvests tied to extreme weather, changing climate patterns and disease in aging trees.

Hershey and Lindt both cited higher raw-material costs in statements to NPR, and said they’ve taken on or offset part of them.

7. Dole Canned Pineapple

Dole's canned pineapple from Southeast Asia cost 25% more in NPR's price check, and Dole cited weather-related crop shortages and tariffs on imports from the region, NPR reports.

Say you paid $2 for a can a year earlier. At 25% more, you would pay $2.50.

8. Farberware Measuring Spoons

Farberware's plastic measuring spoons, made in China, rose 19% in NPR's price check, and NPR lists them with the tariff-exposed imports.

Farberware and Walmart didn't comment to NPR on the impact of tariffs.

Say you paid $5 for a set a year earlier. You would now pay $5.95.

9. Schwinn Infant Bike Helmet

Schwinn's infant bike helmet rose 18% in NPR's price check, and NPR reports it used to be made in China and is now made in Vietnam.

Schwinn and Walmart didn't comment to NPR on tariffs.

Two Smaller Increases

Two more items on NPR's list had smaller increases than the nine above.

Head & Shoulders shampoo rose almost 18%.

Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil rose 13%, and the company pointed to tariffs, global supply pressures, rising energy costs and limited availability.

Tariffs and Weather

The year NPR tracked also brought a global trade war, as President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports.

The world also continued to grapple with extreme weather, from droughts to downpours.

NPR's reporting links the coffee, cacao and beef jumps to weather.

Dole cited both weather-related crop shortages and tariffs for its canned pineapple.

What Got Cheaper

NPR's list had winners too, since just under a quarter of its items got cheaper.

Milk and Cheerios were among them.

Cheerios cost 19% less than a year earlier, so a box you paid $5 for then would cost you $4.05 now.

Butter dipped almost 16%.

Tide's Shrinking Detergent Bottle

NPR spotted one case of shrinkflation at the Liberty County Walmart: Tide laundry detergent.

NPR first saw Tide selling less detergent per bottle in 2022.

The liquid had dropped to 92 ounces from 100 ounces before the pandemic, and the price had risen by a dollar.

After that, the price stayed the same, but the contents shrank to 84 ounces in 2024 and then to 80 ounces in December.

That puts the December bottle 20 ounces below the 100 ounces from before the pandemic.

The bottle you buy today may hold less than the bottle you bought years ago.

Procter & Gamble's Response

Procter & Gamble told NPR it upgraded the Tide formula NPR tracked, with boosted cleaning ingredients and updated dosage instructions.