A Burger Costs Up To Twice As Much Depending On Where You Shop In Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NY— A pound of ground beef in Brooklyn now costs anywhere from $5.79 to nearly $15 depending on where shoppers shop.

At Aldi on Fulton Street, 80/20 ground beef sells for $5.79 per pound in bulk packs, setting the lowest baseline in the borough for a standard cookout staple.

At Foodtown of Bed-Stuy, the same type of beef typically ranges from $6.49 to $6.99 per pound, while grass-fed and premium cuts move above $10.99 per pound.

At Target in Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn, 93/7 lean and organic options generally fall between $8.29 and $9.49 per pound, placing even “everyday” beef closer to what was once considered premium pricing.

How Grocery Models Shape Your Receipt

So why does the same pound of ground beef carry three different price tags across the same borough?

The differences reflect how each store structures its pricing rather than a single market rate for ground beef.

Aldi keeps prices lower by relying on bulk packaging and private-label supply chains that reduce branding and unit costs.

Target leans into national-brand positioning and higher-lean selections, which shifts even basic ground beef into a higher price tier.

Foodtown operates as a cooperative banner, meaning individual stores are often independently owned or locally managed rather than centrally run as a fully uniform chain.

Oftentimes, neighborhood demographics play a role in price differences.

Its structure gives store operators flexibility in pricing, promotions and product selection.

In practice, stores in higher-rent or higher-income neighborhoods may stock more premium cuts, organic items and branded products, often at slightly higher prices to reflect operating costs and local demand.

Stores in more price-sensitive areas may emphasize value packs, private-label goods and heavier promotions to compete with discount grocers such as Aldi and big-box retailers like Target.

Across the three stores, the same cookout ingredient no longer exists at a single price point.

Instead, it moves through three distinct tiers within the same borough, depending on where shoppers buy it.

How Inflation Creates Three Price Realities

The pattern repeats across buns, cheese, tomatoes and soda, according to a Patch comparison of Brooklyn grocery pricing.

Table's Details: Hamburger buns cost $1.19 at Aldi, $1.50 to $4.59 at Foodtown, and $1.59 to nearly $6 at Target. Sliced cheddar cheese ranges from $1.39 at Aldi, $1.89 to $5.99 at Foodtown, and $3.29 to $5.99 at Target. Tomatoes cost about $1.95 per pound at Aldi, $2.99 to $3.69 at Foodtown and Target. Soda 12-packs cost about $3.39 at Aldi and $7.99 to $10.99 at Foodtown and Target.

The differences reflect more than inflation, according to Marija Gecaite, chief commercial officer at Oxylabs.

“Consumers focus on the sticker shock of a single ingredient, but the public data tells a more accurate story," Gecaite said. "The cookout is an economic portfolio. When you track the entire basket over a decade, you realize that diversification is the consumer’s best defense against inflation."

One Ingredient Drives Most Of The Cost Increase

A weighted inflation model built from typical cookout spending shows beef accounts for roughly 45 percent of total BBQ cost, followed by buns, cheese and soda.

Beef remains the largest source of inflation pressure in the cookout basket because the U.S. cattle herd continues to shrink after years of drought and herd liquidation.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service, the nation's cattle and calf inventory fell to 86.2 million head as of Jan. 1, 2026 — the smallest herd since 1951 — while the number of beef cows declined to 27.6 million, extending a years-long contraction.

The cattle production cycle typically spans eight to 12 years, meaning rebuilding herds takes several years because producers must retain breeding heifers before they can expand beef production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.

That slow biological cycle has kept beef supplies tight and prices elevated even as drought conditions have improved in some regions.

"Beef grabs the headlines, but it’s not the whole story," Gecaite said. "When beef prices spiked, the stability of dairy and produce acted as a stabilizer. You only see that with long-term, basket-level tracking."

Cheese prices fell about 17 percent in real terms since 2016, while tomatoes dropped roughly 18 percent.

Soft drinks rose about 30 percent over the same period.

A standard burger built from those ingredients now costs about 11 percent more than it did a decade ago, despite those offsets.

What Will Your 4th Of July Burger Cost Today?

A 10-person Fourth of July barbecue built from equivalent ingredients costs about $49 at Aldi, roughly $81 at Foodtown and about $95 at Target.

Each basket includes 5 pounds of ground beef, 10 buns, 10 slices of cheese, 2 pounds of tomatoes and two 12-packs of soda.

A decade ago, a 10-person cookout cost roughly $39.50 in today’s dollars when adjusted to a 2016 baseline.

A weighted index combines the main ingredients of a typical cookout—beef, buns, cheese, tomatoes and soda— into a single number based on how much consumers typically spend on each item.

Beef carries the largest weight because it accounts for the biggest share of the total meal cost, followed by items like buns and soda, with tomatoes and cheese carrying smaller shares.

Using 2016 as a baseline of 100, the cookout basket rose to about 163 in 2026— meaning the same set of foods costs about 63 percent more overall than it did a decade earlier.

Consumers may notice sharp increases in specific products, such as beef, and assume prices are rising uniformly across the basket.

However, the weighted index shows that a few high-impact items drive most of the overall increase.

The uneven pattern also helps explain why total meal costs can rise even when some ingredients become cheaper.

For a cookout or similar large meal, higher-cost items that are purchased in larger quantities can outweigh savings elsewhere, pushing the total cost higher even when not every component is rising at the same rate.