Everything is More Expensive Up North (grocery edition)

It's true.
While Whitehorse isn't quite the desolate locale of Dawson or Old Crow, it is still very far from Vancouver (civilization) or even a small reasonable-sized town. Hence, things do end up pricey.
This edition is about groceries.

We have two major grocery stores, Superstore and Extra Foods. If not for Superstore, I have a feeling things would be a lot worse. Groceries are manageable, lineups and specialty items are not. Suprisingly, dairy is cheaper here than in Vancouver, something that really threw me for a loop. Bananas, something everyone usually buys, are about .78 at Superstore. If you go to the hippie/oddities/independent grocery-convenience store Riverside, bananas are $1.78/lb. There's the difference, and I have a feeling we'd all be paying that if not for the bigger stores. Yes shop local, avoid large chains, but sometimes it's not possible.

Becuase the two major chains keep things reasonable, groceries *just* outside the downtown core like to take it to ridiculous levels. Bigway and Super A are ripoff grocery stores. To be used in emergency situations only.
For example, a small pack of beef bouillion cost $4.00 at Bigway. A 12-pack of coca-cola is $7.99. There is a Super A in Riverside, a Bigway in Copper Ridge, and a Super A in Porter Creek--beware, they have all their suburbish areas covered.
Apples this time of year are ridiculous everywhere, so no worries on that here. Yogurt at Superstore is about $2.49, better than Vancouver at $3.49 for the same house brand. Also, instant flavoured coffee is a better deal, or at least the same as Vancouver. Maxwell house instant flavoured will run you about $5.49 here at Superstore or Wal-Mart, and $7.99 at Shoppers DrugMart (not really a grocery store, but if you're looking for essentials and happen to stumble along...I wouldn't buy)
Seafood is prohibitively expensive, but like any city that has access to fresh fish...it stays just as expensive. Salmon is far more accessible than Arctic Char, annoyingly.
Oh and Wal-Mart had a great deal on shrimp (unfortunately from China, so not melamine-free guaranteed...) at 2lbs for $8.88.