CHICAGO (WLS) — At a South Loop grocery store, customers experience sticker shock and frustration.

“No matter if it’s organic or if it’s regular, it’s still going to be an arm and a leg for it. It’s like you’re spending your soul on groceries,” said shopper Tria Hutson.

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Hutson, of Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, says regardless of the store, prices continue to rise.

“We have sweet butters that used to be about $1.99. And this is now $3.29,” Hutson said. “Eggs went down, but everything else went up. You know, this is sad.”

And she is not alone. A new poll from the Associated Press and National Opinion Research Center shows the vast majority of adults, at least 86%, consider the cost of groceries a major or minor source of stress, with only 14% saying it causes them no stress.

“A loaf of bread costs us $4, and it looks like it’s getting smaller,” said shopper Esther Ordonez.

They say coupons do not help much.

In the past year, the latest Consumer Price Index data shows the cost of groceries are up nearly 2.5%.

But since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, groceries are up 28%.

Though inflation has moderated since 2022, prices have not pulled back.

“Even though over the past year, prices are up 2.5%, 3%, that doesn’t sound so bad. It’s on top of a higher base, and that’s the cumulative effect. That’s really what people are feeling,” said Bankrate Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman.

Rossman says supply chain issues have eased, but prices have largely risen because of the cost of labor and raw materials.

“There’s just been higher costs across the board. As workers, we love to get paid more, but as consumers we don’t want to pay more for things,” Rossman said.

Rossman says, for now, the impact of tariffs has been lessened by companies absorbing much of the added cost, but that could change in the coming months.