Rachel, of the wonderful Coconut & Lime blog, has a new entry on cost-saving tips on her Food Maven blog, which is dedicated entirely to food tips. We've written about how to save on the food bill before here at Slashfood, but there are a few entries on Rachel's list we hadnt thought of. Here are two of my favorite tips:

I pay attention to cycles in sales, baking stuff goes on sale in December, yogurt about once a month, roasting chickens in the winter etc and stock up the best I can.

I plan meals around what is on sale rather than rushing out and buying (full price) ingredients for a specific dish.

Check out the blog for the full list of ten tips.

What are your favorite grocery cost-saving tips?

I'm not exactly sure how much time or energy this web technology saves, but apparently, Grocist allows you to scan products to create an electronic grocery list.

You keep a barcode scanner in your kitchen and when you run out of a product, you scan the barcode from the package before you throw it away. The web application searches a UPC database to determine the product and keeps a running grocery list for you.

While the idea of this sounds pretty cool, I can't see how scanning a barcode is any faster or easier than jotting something down on a list that's taped to your refrigerator door. I also can't really see people running out to buy a barcode scanner. Additionally, using Grocist assumes that a lot of your groceries are packaged goods that would be found in the UPC database. I don't know this for sure, but the last time I went to the grocery store, there weren't any barcodes on garlic and lettuce.

However, if the Grocist were to actually send that information at the end of every week via email to the grocery store who could deliver the groceries to my front door, then I'd pay attention!

[via: Lifehacker]

Do you take reusable shopping bags with you when you do your grocery shopping? The first step is to start keeping the bags in the trunk of your car. Eventually, even if you forget that they're there for the first few times, you'll gradually get into the habit of bringing them into the store with you. Some grocers will give their shoppers a discount for bringing in their own bags, but even if they don't, you'll probably get the warm and fuzzy feeling of self-satisfaction from helping the environment.

Once you're in the habit of bringing in canvas bags, it shouldn't be much of a stretch to add a cooler bag to your collection, which will keep frozen foods, fresh produce and refrigerated products protected from the heat of the car - an especially useful feature for a hot summer day or any time that you have a long commute. This particular insulated bag is helpfully labeled, and has sturdy wooden handles that make it easy to carry.

The USDA's nutritional guidance system, MyPyramid, has not been the smashing success that organizers hoped it would be when it was unveiled almost two years ago. The problem seems to be that the new pyramid, as opposed to the old one, only provides guidance, not hard and fast numbers to follow. This means that diners need to take responsibility for their health and their choices - and motivating them to do so is not an easy task.

Trying to help the public to better understand and make use of the already in-place system, food manufacturers and retailers have joined together to create the Take a Peak program. The program aims to get people thinking more closely about health and using MyPyramid with in-store advertising, banners, signs and kiosk. Displays will how reminders of how many servings of whole grains should be eaten per day and what serving sizes look like. Some products will be given a logo indicating why it maybe a good choice.

The trial run of the program will cover 2,000 stores in 17 states and includes Publix, Raley's and SuperValue. Depending on the response from consumers, it may not be long before the plan (or propaganda, if you prefer to look at it that way) ends up in stores at the rest of the US, as well.

Owned by a German company called Albrecht Discounts, ALDI is a discount grocery chain that started in Germany in 1948. Decidedly no frills, the company stocks virtually all house-brand products, all offered at very low prices thanks to exclusive deals with their suppliers, many of which are big-name producers. ALDI has approximately 5,000 stores worldwide and the two Albrecht brothers, who own the company, are some of the riches men in the world.

But getting back to ALDI's business strategy, does this sound like another store that we know of? The same strategy, although executed by the US staff and tailored to their customers' tastes, is the exact same one used by Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's, although it may be based in Southern California, is actually owned by Albrecht Discounts. The company was purchased back in 1979, long before it hit the cultural mainstream. Since that time, it has been left to turn itself into a very trendy, upscale grocery store by following a similar business plan to ALDI. TJs has low prices and a lot of store-brand products, but a different image that appeals to a different group of consumers.

Shoppers in Atlanta, Georgia may want to take note that Trader Joe's is planning on opening a store within the next 12 months. Unfortunately, representatives from the company have been pretty tight-lipped about a location, but it does say that it will be "midtown" on the Trader Joe's website.

The California chain, as we all are probably well aware by now, is known for offering gourmet foods with a focus on quailty and convenience, at very low prices, often under its own label. Instead of producing all of the products themselves, they work closely with national or global brands that meet their quality standards to get lower prices for shoppers. One of the reasons that this strategy works so well is that the stores have a wide variety of items, but a very limited choice in each category, so once a product makes it into the store, it will not face much, if any, competition for sales. Many products are packaged to serve two or four, making them ideal for busy families or couples.

If rumors can be believed, the company is planning more than one Atlanta location to follow this first store, as well.

In keeping with the spirit of my last post on Trader Joe's, I noticed something new - and rather surprising - at my local store this weekend. On the fruit display, where four-packs of apples of all kinds are usually stacked, there was a large, open bin of various kinds of apples. There was also a roll of plastic bags and a sign exhorting the benefits of mixing and matching Fujis, Galas and Braeburns, both organic and conventional.

If you're not familiar with TJ's, you're probably thinking that this isn't such a strange thing. After all - in most grocery stores, you can bag your own apples. Trader Joe's has always had their fruit pre-packed, though, and to see all the types of apples loose and mixed together was just... not very Trader Joe's-like!

It took me a minute or two - as opposed to a few seconds - to pick out four organic Fujis. Is the TJ's in your area doing this, too? And, if so, do you prefer this type of display?

Store brand products can be more affordable and, in many cases, better tasting than their name-brand counterparts. With some products, the larger national brands actually produce the store-brands, which simply receive different packaging before being shipped out to stores. Personally, I'm an open minded shopper and don't usually discriminate between name brand and non name brand food items. I buy store-brand sodas along with Diet Coke and do price and ingredient comparisons with products I haven't previously tried, often to discover that the store brand is almost identical to the more expensive corresponding brand.

That said, there are still some products that I won't buy if they're an off-brand. I prefer Heinz ketchup, for example, and approximations of Honey Nut Cheerios just don't quite measure up. It's probably because they're familiar flavors that I grew up with, and for that same reason, you probably have some, too. What store brand products will you not buy?

Perhaps they are responding to Wal-Mart's increased offering of organic products. Perhaps they are extending their business philosophy of organic growth into their actual products. Whatever the reason, Minneapolis-based Target will be putting more organic products on their grocery shelves.

Target already offers orgaic option in their SuperTarget stores around the country. Their produce departments are certified organic, and they offer hundreds of national-brand organic products. However, Target plans to add their own products under a private-label, Archer Farms. The line of foods will include pizzas, pastas, frozen dinners and dairy products.

A recent Australian study, the first of its kind, revealed that people who shop for groceries online tend to make better food decisions than those who don't. The reason for this was that when customers searched for one product - milk, for example - lower fat options were shown as a result, as well as the full-fat. Since they took the time to read the options on screen, as opposed to grabbing a carton and moving to the next item on their list, many shoppers chose the low-fat option. This happened with just about every food group.

Interestingly, the study also showed that the shoppers continued these habits, choosing the same, healthier products on multiple shopping "trips." When further nutritional advice was offered, consumers made even better choices.

The study tells us that when people take the time to really think about what they're doing or buying, people will tend to make better choices than when they're just taking the first thing that comes to mind. This is a good sign that messages about food choices and health are sinking in.

Cruising through Epicurious the other day, I came across a post in the editor's blog, Epi-log. She pointed to a thread in Epicurious' forum about a woman doing an "experiment" in hunger, to see what it would be like to live at what the American government defines as "poverty level." The woman did a little bit of research and says, "From what I have read in governmental statistics, poverty for a household of two is an annual income of $13,000, or $250 a week." After housing, food is the second highest expense, and based on the statistics, she is going to try to live on $62 a week for food for two people.

It made me think. As a single person, that would mean I would be living on $31 a week for food. I was sort of embarrassed to say that while I could easily spend that on a croissant and coffee for a week, a family of two is living on that for three meals a day, seven days a week. I've blown more than that on one meal of sushi before. In fact, I think I spend $31 each time I go to the grocery store, which is about every other day.

I thought about how I would do with $31 a week. It made me really think about things I take for granted, like wine, cheese, and desserts. Perhaps I'd go back to eating a lot more Korena food, which is heavily based on grains and vegetables, which are not as expensive as fish and meats.

How about you? How much do you spend on groceries a week? Would you be able to make do if you were cut back to $62 for two people?

Martin's Food Market, at their new location in Eldersburg, Md, is adding an unusual new type of employee to its staff: a nutritionist. The nutritionist will be available to shoppers, to help guide them through the aisles and make good food choices. She will also be able to answer general questions about health and wellness and customers can make one-on-one appointments with her for more in depth nutritional planning. It's not quite clear whether there will be a fee for the services of the nutritionist, although it seems more likely that there would be one for the in-depth appointments than the one-off questions of shoppers.

The nutritionist could point out that baked chips are a healthier alternative to regular ones, and help consumers read the labels so they know what they're getting. While many consumers already know what they should be eating, or what the healthier choices are, the nutritionist can provide the nudge that is needed to take that option.

The only reason for store to keep a nutritionist is to please the customers, since the nutritionist would inevitable steer people away from more processed, less healthful foods, which could hurt sales of those items. But if shoppers are coming in to meet with her or because they have gotten recommendations in the past, a loss of junk food sales wouldn't hurt the store. So the real question here is, would you take advantage of such a service if it was available at your local grocery store?

Now that Amazon.com is selling groceries online, a whole world of opportunities has opened. Obviously, your day opens up since you don't have to spend time driving to the grocery store, pushing a cart around the store, waiting in line at the register, and perhaps even fighting with your kids about what flavor Pop-tart to get.

But an interesting thing has popped up with the Amazon.com grocery store. Customers are rating grocery products,just as customers rate books, CDs, and movies. This gallon of Tuscan Whole Milk has over 350 customer "reviews," also shows what other customers bought when they bought the milk. Hey, if they can tell you that customers who bought the DVD V is for Vendetta also bought Ultraviolet, Amazon can tell you that fellow customers who bought the Tuscan gallon milk also bought bananas, grapes and fresh vine-ripe tomatoes. Good to know.

No gift-wrapping on the milk, though.

I was shopping at an Asian grocery store the other day looking for some slightly unusual ingredients. I could have gone all the way to Koreatown to one of the big mega-markets like Kaju (California Market) or Assi, where they do volume business so the prices are dirt cheap.

Instead, I chose to stay closer to my neighborhood and went to one of the smaller grocery stores. It's about the size of a convenience store, so it doesn't carry volume, but it does have a little bit of almost everything. Plus, it's about twice as expensive.

One of the things I noticed was an ice chest next to the freezer section, where it looked like people were gathered around waiting - for a free sample perhaps? On the weekends, the markets usually set up small tables at the end of aisles giving out samples of new products.

When I walked over, hoping it might be something sweet and cold to battle the heat, I saw the sign. "Free Ice." The chest was full of ice and had small plastic bags next to it. Customers could scoop ice into a bag, tie it off in a knot, and place it on their freezer and refrigerator items to keep them cold until they got home to put their groceries away.

Kind of makes you appreciate the little guy.

Remember back when Webvan and Peapod were totally revolutionary, and then suddenly they just keeled over dead with the rest fo the web? It seemed that online grocers would just never work out.

Apparently, online grocery shopping was just too early for its time back then, because now, checking off your groery list by clicking your mouse is becoming more and more popular. Last year shoppers spent $3.3 billion at online grocers, and that's expected to jump to $4.2 billion this year. It seems that it just makes life easeier for the person who manages the household.

On Friday's the Early Show, Susan Koeppen gave a fairly detailed lowdown on four of the online grocers: Peapod, FreshDirect, NetGrocer, and the new Amazon Groceries, which we saw last month.