Due to the rising cost of food inflation in the United States that is only projected to get worse according to the USDA, shoppers have begun flocking to budget retailers in order to find low-cost solutions to feed both themselves and their families without breaking the bank.
This has appeared to have an impact on the offerings from said budget retail stores, like Dollar General, which has released a particular brand of locations that focuses on more prototypical grocery store offerings.
In fact, there have been some Dollar Tree shoppers who have seen products like Beyond Meat being sold at certain locations, and there are even influencers who have uploaded videos dedicated to showing shoppers examples what of relatively low-cost grocery runs at the Dollar Tree look like.
And a TikToker named Kiki (@cabanhotcherry2) posted a trending clip on the popular social media platform showing off some familiar grocery store items in a Dollar Tree’s freezer section retelling for $3, $4, and $5 a piece.
The clip she shows off boxes of Dino Buddies dinosaur chicken nuggets; Blue Bunny and Blue Ribbon ice cream products; Mandu Chicken Dumplings; and White Castle pre-packaged, re-heatable frozen cheeseburgers.
@cabanhotcherry2 I mean these particular namebrand foods because they do have other namebrand freezer products, but I meant also for size some of the prices were definitely worth it for the size so I did pick up a few things #dollartree #dollartreefinds #dollartreehaul @Dollar Tree #fyp #ebt #ebtcard #snapebt #foodstamps #ebtqueen #lov3world🤍 #cabanhotcherry2 #cabanhotcherry ♬ original sound – Kiki
“OK so this was like bittersweet cause obviously I got super excited to see name brand foods at Dollar Tree. Silly me thought that honestly it was a dollar but I saw a notice that they were like big sizes which led me to see super illuminated if you will prices. They do have things $3, $4, and $5. But still OK: I see you Dollar Tree I don’t think I’m mad at this look at all these name brand foods.”
Kiki adds in a caption for the video that she found the pricing of some of the items to be competitive so she decided to pick up a few things while shopping at the popular budget retail store.
In 2020, Mashed penned a piece telling customers to think twice before purchasing food from Dollar General, citing a piece from the Wall Street Journal that claimed the retailer did not sell fresh food items. GOBankingRates also listed seven items customers should always check the expiration dates of that they purchase from Dollar Tree. There are other outlets that have taken what appears to be a stronger stance against purchasing particular items from dollar stores in general. Clark.com writes that frozen meats, spices, chips, pretzels, and canned vegetables among some other items might be better purchased elsewhere.
It’s worth considering however, that many of these pieces were written a few years ago, prior to the 40-year record high inflation spike that befell the United States summer 2022.
Some viewers have also express concern with purchasing some of the food items from retailers like Dollar Tree. One commenter wrote: “And beware most of Dollar Tree don’t care about their frozen foods and they leave it out for a long time. i got home with melted ice cream inside box.”
There were others who seemed pretty satisfied with their dollar-store food finds.
“That’s still good prices cause that exact box office sliders is 7.34 at my grocery store,” one person wrote.
Another penned, “I be buying all kinds of stuff at Dollar Tree, that freezer area, definitely take advantage of,” while someone else remarked, “ohh I’ve had those dumplings before. they’re aren’t bad”
And while there were a few commenters who thought that the prices of these products were competitive, there were others who remarked that they were less expensive in other stores.
Which appears to be the case, at least with the White Castle cheese sliders four-pack. The Dollar Tree in Kiki’s video advertises the offering for $5. Walmart sells a six pack for $5.78 according to this online listing.
The Daily Dot Has reached out to Dollar Tree via email and Kiki via TikTok comment for further information.