There are so many changes happening at the commissary that many people have questioned if the 5% surcharge will be going away as well. At this point, the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) hasn’t announced that it is considering it.
When the commissary was first approved, it was set by law that goods would be sold at cost plus a 5% surcharge. The surcharge covers the cost of maintaining and improving commissary infrastructure.
The government is always looking for ways to save money and the commissary certainly takes a big chunk of the defense buget. The government wants DeCA to be more self-sufficient. If they drop the surcharge, then more taxpayers’ money would have to fund the commissary.
When the commissary was first approved, it was set by law that goods would be sold at cost plus a 5% surcharge. The surcharge covers the cost of maintaining and improving commissary infrastructure. The government funded the rest.
For FY 2018, DeCA requested $1.3 billion in appropriations to cover costs such as: civilian and military labor, labor contracts, transportation of commissary goods overseas, and other general and administrative support. Many new programs have been implemented since to help reduce federal funding.
What has changed at the commissary?
Quite a lot has changed recently.
Have you noticed prices at the commissary aren’t the same? That’s because DeCA moved from set prices to variable pricing. That means that prices are not consistent across the country now. If you live near D.C., you’ll find prices are higher there than at a commissary in Georgia. That’s because the cost of living is higher in D.C. and therefore, items cost more.
Goods fluctuate with market prices as well.
Previously, prices changed at the commissary when the cost changed through the manufacturer. Now they change with the market similarly to how commercial grocery stores handle pricing.
Commissary shoppers are still getting great savings even with the 5% surcharge. In some areas, shoppers are seeing as much as 44.2% savings. You can read more about variable pricing here and see how much your region is saving.
DeCA has made some substantial changes in a relatively short time to start relying less on the government for their funding. The success of these is noticeable in how much money DeCA requested in appropriations for FY 2019. They asked for $123 million less than they did for FY 2018. While you would think the government would be happy about that, they are already asking how much more money they can reduce their appropriations.
From the customer’s standpoint, how do you feel about these changes?
The government wants to save money but DeCA still wants to bring great savings to military families. The commissary benefit is a part of the compensation package and is a great recruitment and retention tool. It isn’t going away.
Neither is the 5% surcharge. The surcharge is one thing that customers ask about a lot.
The exchange doesn’t have a surcharge; so many people don’t understand why the commissary does.
The commissaries and exchanges are two different entities and are funded differently. For now, the 5% surcharge stays in place, but if another change occurs, combining the commissary and exchange, you might see something different. That’s a long way down the road though as a new study just began this month.
It is like a private commissary tax paid by the customers’ who use it. I have no issues with paying a little money to use the commissary. I am sure those who are not allowed to use the commissary would have issue if their taxes went to pay for these special grocery stores’.
I have no problem with the surcharge at the commissary. I have heard some one say they can beat the commissary prices by shopping around. I told one such person that to have a fair comparison pick out one grocery store and shop there like I do at the commissary.. Did a study on this when I was in business college in 1071. I shopped 20 every day items that the average household would purchase. A&P was 25% higher than the commissary. Win Dixie was also 25% higher and Publix was was almost 30% higher. I also calculated the price of store brands and they were about the same as the commissary. Of course the store brands are not as good as the name brands but that is another study. I would guess that today’s study would reveal the same results.
I have no problem with the surcharge. What I AM seeing is a removal of name brands, especially organic frozen foods, an no one can tell me if the new Freedoms Choice brand will also provide organic frozen foods. I certainly hope they will !
I am NOT opposed to paying the 5% surcharge. However, I would prefer that the shelf price include the surcharge rather than the surcharge being added at the sales register because it makes it a little easier for comparison shopping.
I have noticed the selection of goods have dwindled down. On the 3rd of July at 4:00 the bread isle was wiped out for the holiday. Bad management for not having additional hot dog, hamburger buns for sale. This was both Randolph AFB and FT Sam Houston Commissaries. Other problems are products on shelf that are expired. Milk being sold that is expiring within the next few days. Ft Sam Houston is a big offender of this. Have brought it to Managements attention before. Now for the biggie, beer and wine on the shelf being sold in Ft Sam Houston Commissary. That takes space away for food that should be provided for sale. The Commissary should have edible food stocked. That goes for flowers and plants that should not be sold in the commissary as well. Put food on the selves to be sold. Military shoppers are fed up with selves being empty. That is why you are starting to lose the business to Walmart and HEB. They keep their selves stock!
The commissary surcharge helps them out. I have no problem paying it!
I have no problem with the surcharge. It is worth paying to be able to shop at the Commissary and save money. You can sometimes save money on loss leaders at the grocery stores but, if you figure the overall cost of a shopping trip, the Commissary saves a lot of money.
I am really disappointed in the Freedoms choice line, I liked the name brand items, I have bought for years and now I have to shop at local stores for the items I prefer and pay the higher prices. If I wanted to buy basically generic I could have been shopping at Walmart. Our local commissary has just about completely removed some on the name brands with the store brand, especially in the cheese section, the Sargento and Kraft choices have become severely limited. The same with the canned tomato products.
I have no issues with the surcharge, I made my own saving comparison between the commissary and a local popular grocery store. I shopped that the commissary and pitched about 25 items. I took my receipt and went to the local grocery store and wrote down the price of each item to compare. My comparison was significant, my items would have cost $108.00 at the local grocery store and I only paid $71.00 with the surcharge at the commissary. Which was about a 35% savings.
I have no problem with the 5% because the commissary is not suppose to be a “FOR PROFIT” store like the Base Exchange is.
The problem that I have is the definition of “Variable Pricing” that they are forcing us to believe. DECA’s definition is that variable pricing is that all prices are not consistent across the country now. I question that because it comes down to what you actually paid for the item? If you bought 10,000 cases of Kraft BBQ sauce at .25 cent a bottle; you sell it at Offutt AFB at $1.25 and you sell it at Andrews AFB for $1.75, then DECA is making more money off of the active duty & veterans in other areas of the country.. I have a knack for numbers and I walk the isles at the commissary looking for the deals and watch out for the rip offs. This bottle of Kraft BBQ sauce, 18 oz can sell between $.75 cents to $1.75 within a timeframe of 4 weeks. Why? If you asked management; they will tell you the price fluctuated based on the price of the item outside the gates at other “FOR PROFIT” stores. This is normally followed up by the statement; “it is still cheaper than what you will have to pay off base.”
Yes, I actually use Kraft BBQ sauce, 18 oz bottles and the last time I purchased it was at a local “FOR PROFIT” store off base. I bought 18 bottles at $.60 cents a bottle. I saved over 18 dollars by not shopping at the commissary. I bought 12 boxes of Rice Krispies, 19oz for $1..77 each rather than paying the $3.99 that the commissary was asking. More money in my pocket.
As retirees, veterans and active duty we received lower wages based on the benefits we were suppose to receive and the commissary is a benefit that we earned it was not given to us.. My retirement check is small and it is not going up like the prices at the commissary.
As the young lady stated in the comments above; hamburger & hotdogs buns were wiped at the Offutt commissary too! The generic “Select” buns are no longer stocked, I now have to buy a “Ballpark” brand that is higher.
What the government wants us to do is to pay for the operation & maintenance of our commissaries by charging us higher prices. Pretty soon every Tom, Dick & Harry (who didn’t serve or retire) will be allowed to use the commissary and the prices will continue to get higher.
I will continue to use the commissary but I won’t buy 100% of my needs there. I will continue to shop at the store with the lowest prices and that is not necessarily the commissary.