The price you pay for food isn’t coming down. The USDA’s forecast for the rest of this year and 2026 expects overall grocery prices to keep rising. 

Data analyzed by NBC 5 Investigates suggests that families in the Dallas-Fort Worth area pay some of the highest grocery prices in the state.

Shopping ‘Salvage’ food

Lois Miller of Fort Worth is hunting for food bargains, hoping to offset rising costs.

“From one visit to the store to the next, I can see prices going up,” Miller said.

NBC 5 Responds met Miller as she strolled the aisles of Town Talk Foods. It’s a grocery outlet, offering edible food that didn’t sell in traditional stores. The store said food comes from a range of sources. Some of it is overstock or discontinued product.

“Some company had bought 100 pallets. They’ve only sold 40. They call us and go, ‘Hey, you want 10 pallets of this?’” said Doug White with Town Talk Foods.

White said the store buys some food in bulk, then repackages it for individual sale.

White picked up a bag of coffee, “This would ring up at $2. This is almost a whole pound of coffee that would normally cost $14.”

Some food is close to or past the date on the package.

Shopping short-coded food

You may see best by, sell by or freeze by dates on food and think of them as expiration dates. The USDA said that’s the manufacturer’s date, indicating peak quality or flavor.

It’s not directly related to food safety. The USDA said most food product dating isn’t required by federal regulations. Infant formula is the exception. Other food is generally safe to eat past the date on the package, if handled properly.

“When you buy this, it’s frozen,” White said of a package of chicken thighs. “It was frozen when we got it. It’s frozen until you get it home.”

“This would be $10.47 at a regular store, but it’s half price with us. So, it’d be $5.24,” White added.

Customer Kristi Moody said she’s open to shopping for short-dated food.

“I like to think we’re eliminating some waste by being willing to take things that are short-dated or maybe slightly outdated and they’re perfectly fine,” said Moody.

Moody was shopping for snacks for an upcoming vacation. She said her kids treat a trip to the outlet grocery store like a treasure hunt.

“I don’t buy a lot of packaged snacks. When we come to a place like this, the kids get things they don’t usually get and they look forward to finding treats,” Moody said.

Inventory at outlet grocery stores constantly changes. What’s in stock one day may not be there the next. Many salvage grocery stores share updates of new shipments on social media. That way, customers can have an idea of what’s in stock before driving over. White said a recent post about a shipment of pet food brought in a surge of customers.

White said inflation affects salvage grocers as well, when the food they purchase costs more.

“I don’t like changing prices, so it’s hard for me to do that. But we have to do it at times to stay in business,” White said.

Miller said it was her second trip to Town Talk Foods and she was finding discounts. Miller read the price on a bottle of name-brand salad dressing,

“Only $1.99. It’s a 16-ounce bottle,” Miller said. “At another store, you’d probably have to spend about $3.”

Town Talk Foods has stores in Fort Worth, Weatherford and Arlington.

There are other grocery outlets or salvage grocery stores. You can watch our coverage from another store in Dallas here. You can check out coverage of an online outlet food store that ships to customers here. This website maps salvage and outlet food shopping outlets in North Texas and beyond.

Hungry? In need of food?

If you’re hungry and need nutritious, free food, you can call 2-1-1 for the latest information on the SNAP program and find alternative food resources from area food banks, food pantries and other community resources.

If you need food and live in Bosque, Cooke, Denton, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant or Wise counties, search the Tarrant Area Food Bank website for food pantries.

If you need food and live in Collin, Dallas, Delta, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Lamar, Navarro, or Rockwall counties, search the North Texas Food Bank website for food pantries.

If you need food and live elsewhere in Texas, visit the Feeding Texas website to find your local food bank and food pantries.

Buy Salvage Food offers a searchable map to locate salvage grocery stores online and in your neighborhood.

NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form.