Why are food costs so high in Savannah & SC coastal area? (houses, buy)

[Padgett2]

I have read that there is only one place in the world that has soil like the GA/SC coast. It's in a section of China where all the camellias come from. Sandy and acidic.
Roses do great in the red clay areas since it is usually more alkaline.

[gaflsc]

I think it also has something to do with our overall low population, and that our groceries are trucked in from Atlanta (Kroger), Jacksonville (Publix), Charleston (Pig) & N.C. (Food Lion). Higher population concentrations would tend to overall lower food prices.

[TootsieWootsie]

I was really only concerned with the cost of groceries around Savannah.
Also, I wonder if not only the trucking cost brings up the prices of groceries there (Las Vegas has the same situation), but, also, that the area is really a tourist area from Myrtle Beach all the way down to Jacksonville, Florida. Price gouging would go on particularly since restaurants and food places would pay. Could that be a small part of the high cost of groceries there?

[ellie]

Tourists don't usually buy many groceries. I'm with Padgett on the transportation costs. Part of it might just be how it is. Sometimes things just cost more. No particular reason.

Why don't you post this link to the cost of groceries and let the rest of us look at it? Seems if we could see where they're getting their numbers, we could do more than speculate.

[Just Plain Al]

"Could that be a small part of the high cost of groceries there?"

I gotta chime in here.
I don't find the prices "high" here at all.
Pretty much the same as the last place I lived.
And some are quite lower.
Just my 26cents worth.

[ellie]

Yeah, I just found the link myself. Seems everywhere I'd want to live in the US is more expensive than here. The food costs less in Austin, for example, but everything else is much more costly by comparison. I also checked a well-known cold and miserable place, Cleveland, OH; which has lower housing and food costs, but somehow is still more expensive.

[TootsieWootsie]

I would like to post the link for you, but the Moderator would delete it. Sorry. It's on a competing board.
My finding is that most everything is lower in S.C.--except on the coast grocery cost is higher, which is why this question was asked in the first place.

[ellie]

I just compared Savannah to Charleston. Groceries are less there but pretty much else is about equal or more expensive, especially housing. Beaufort, SC has the same grocery prices but is otherwise more expensive than Savannah. Myrtle Beach is also more expensive than Savannah, except for grocery prices.

South of us, Jacksonville, FL is also more expensive but the groceries cost less.

Maybe we just have expensive groceries. LOL

[Just Plain Al]

"Maybe we just have expensive groceries. LOL"

Amen!
And it don't hurt to compare prices, and shop wisely.
I shop Kroger's.
I'm not a PUBLIX kinda guy.

[NCN]

We used to wonder the same thing about the cost of non-local food in Northwestern North Carolina. Then I took a course in accounting. Answer is probably transportation costs. You might want to get a cooler and a membership in the nearest Sam's or some other warehouse.

Oh, my face is so red after that answer. Transportation should be less in your area with all the ships. Maybe it is because the tourists will pay the prices. The warehouse membership still sounds good though. Do you have them there. Your pies are expensive too. I paid more than $20 for one. I would hate to do that on a daily basis. If I lived where you do, I would probably never have to buy groceries because I would never eat at home.