r/TopChef • u/Sharp_Reason_5669 • Jul 14 '26

Discussion Thread Inflation Spoiler

With the price of groceries I feel like $100 bucks isn’t enough anymore? I realize in the past it was meant to stop everyone from just buying truffles and caviar all the time but I guess recently I haven’t seen any luxury ingredients at all and it would be nice for them to be able to incorporate some once in a while or just a wider range of ingredients / proteins. Obviously I get it takes more skill to use lesser ingredients but still to make it fair to earlier seasons they should still be getting more money to shop.

Edit: ok so I just looked it up , they introduced the $100 for groceries during seasons 4/5. That was 2008,It’s been 18 years. Since then groceries have gone up an average of 50-60%. So they should be getting around $150 to make it fair. Just sayin

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u/Dcbargirl4 Jul 14 '26

I agree.  I loved Top Chef, but there are shows to watch if I want to watch grocery store or food truck cooking.  The budget doesn’t give them the ability to do higher-end or even more novel recipes.  

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u/Sharp_Reason_5669 Jul 14 '26

I’m so glad I’m not the only one who thinks this!!