If you're trying to cut down on grocery costs in Toronto as food prices continue to surge, you likely frequent retailers known for being more budget-friendly, such as Fresh Co. and No Frills.

But it seems that not even the discount supermarkets are immune to inflationary pricing, as shoppers are encountering shockingly expensive items at these stores, too.

One resident shared their particularly preposterous find this week on Reddit: a staggering $34.40 for a whole uncooked chicken at the No Frills located at St. Clair and Oakwood Avenues.

In the now-viral post, they stated that they'd recently found the same item at the store for $32, a price so exorbitant that others on the social media platform didn't believe them. So this time, they included a picture of the even higher-priced item in question, garnering nearly 1,000 comments and more than 2,000 upvotes in the process.

Toronto consumers are, of course, flocking to the comments section to rightfully bemoan the sky-high price of basic household necessities — groceries in particular — in the city lately as rent and the general cost of living continue to hit more unbelievable highs.

Many are comparing the item's cost to what a meal at an actual restaurant would go for, with one person mentioning that they can get an entire, likely more scrumptious Piri Piri chicken — cooked, at that — from their local restaurant for a far lower $20.

Others are also noting the cheaper price points at other grocers, saying that in recent trips to Costco and even Loblaws locations in the city, they've seen similar whole roasted chickens priced at $7.99 and $12.99, respectively.

As if they're already not expensive enough.

— Izhan Shafiq Kayani (@IzhanShafiq) April 17, 2023

Even if this particular chicken is large at 2.4 kg, many agree that it is still very overpriced. And, given that No Frills is known to be one of the few reliably cheaper options for big-name grocers — though it is, quite notably, owned by Loblaw — the photo is causing some distress.

"It depends what area you're in," one commentor wrote. "My local No Frills is about as true to the name as you can get. On the other hand, an ex of mine lived in a pretty fancy area and the [No Frills] near there might as well have been a Longos."

It also points to the larger pressures of inflation and unaffordability in this city, with overall inflation last month accelerating at a more rapid pace (4.4 per cent increase since April 2022) than the month prior (4.3 per cent increase since March 2022), the first month-over-month increase in this value in nearly a year, StatCan notes.

And even if the inflation rate had been slowing in the months before this figure, food prices have still been steadily increasing, just at a slower pace.

don’t worry sweetie ur fave corporation gonna be ok pic.twitter.com/h5QUiLPlaN

— Evy Kwong (@EVYSTADIUM) January 13, 2023

While some have had a good sense of humour in joking about the matter ("looks like you found a frill" being one of the better quips on this particular post), it's hard to stay upbet when it's $15 for a bottle of Maple syrup, $9 for a pack of romaine lettuce, and other items have gotten significantly more pricey in less than two years' time.