High Price of Pepper

I always use peppercorns. They're cheaper. You can grind them in a pepper mill (you can find these really cheap on eBay or dollar stores) or in a small grinder that I use to grind coffee and rice for my dog's treats (he's epileptic).

I have noticed it too, I go to Dollar General and buy my pepper, its cheaper than Wal-Mart. Hope this helps.

I've noticed, too - milk at Save-a-Lot is now nearer $3 than $2. As for pepper, we've ended up substituting soul seasoning. Same price as pepper, but more commonly available and seems to go farther, too. Not to mention, I like it better. Don't know why exactly, maybe because the red pepper in the soul seasoning has a different "tang."
I expect you could also substitute Creole seasoning, if you prefer.

Ditto with MCW and it's only going to get worse, especially when the projected inflation index kicks in :-( If you use a lot of pepper, just stock up (or anything you use a lot for that matter) but be wise and keep expiration dates in mind.

There have been price increases on every thing that you buy including black pepper.