Posted on 11/22/2022 2:22:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
Critics claim food companies and restaurants are taking advantage of inflation to raise prices higher and higher.
If you’ve been grocery shopping lately, you’ve probably noticed markedly higher prices on items like bread, milk, and eggs. It’s been widely reported that inflation has driven up prices, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ food index, a measure of price changes in grocery stores and restaurants, increased 11.2% year over year last month.
But a new New York Times report says some food companies may be raising prices higher than inflation calls for—just because they can. “Corporations have used inflation, the pandemic, and supply chain challenges as an excuse to exaggerate their own costs and then nickel-and-dime consumers,” Kyle Herrig, president of watchdog organization Accountable.us, alleged to the Times.
Facing erratic food costs, staffing shortages, and evolving safety regulations in recent years, grocery stores and restaurants saw very real rising costs, which they passed on to their consumers. Now some food companies have been able to cover their inflation-based costs and continue to raise prices. Jason English, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, noted on a call with other analysts this summer that Conagra Brands, owner of brands like Slim Jim and Duncan Hines, has both priced its products above inflation rates and recovered its profit margins. Chipotle has increased prices twice this year, while taking in approximately 13% more revenue year over year. (Conagra and Chipotle did not respond to the Times's request for comment.) Grocery prices across the country have skyrocketed 13% over the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, exceeding the national rate of inflation at 8.2% as of September.
Certainly, consumers feeling the squeeze in their wallet are switching to cheaper options where they can. But many people seem to have begrudgingly accepted the price hikes, allowing the companies to continue to make record profits. According to the Times piece, James Quincey, Coca-Cola’s CEO, said on a call with investors that sales were strong, even during these tough financial times. “In the face of these pressures, consumers stayed resilient.” Rick Cardenas, CEO of Darden Restaurants, the company behind Olive Garden and Cheddar, said on a call with analysts, “We are seeing strength with guests in higher income households.”
It seems as if these price hikes may increase until executives finally find consumers’ breaking point. But when it comes to necessities like food, where exactly is that breaking point? As Sharon Zackfia, group head of consumer research at investment bank William Blair and company told the New York Times, “In the long arc of history, most restaurants do not lower prices.” Alas, it seems in the tug of war between Big Food and the regular joe trying to treat himself with extra guac, joe loses out. Until executives across the food industry have a change of heart, I suppose I’ll see you at the farmers market.
Blame Brandon
Bon Appetit should stick to recipes. They clearly do not understand economics. More apologists for the Biden Idiotocracy.
Who cares. No one is forcing one brand or another on anyone.
The Farmers Market prices are usually pretty high too, but occasionally you can find bargains on seasonal items.
Supply & Demand
Do they not realize that the threat of persistent inflation demands that companies try to get out in front of it? If they do not, then any profits will be eaten up by inflation.
I’m no fan of big business, but I do understand economics and supply-demand. Business will charge the price that will maximize profits - what the market will bear. There’s nothing wrong with that. If people want to rail on big business, then go after all the woke crap they do with DIE, HR and the so-called charities they support. Businesses should be in the business of maximizing shareholder wealth, not social change. They could cut all the corporatism-fascism crap to reduce expenses and focus their attentions on delivering quality products and services that benefit their customers. The result will also benefit shareholders.
Every purchase is a reverse valuation: you value the product more than your money, and the seller values your money more than the product. If the product costs more than you value it, you don’t buy it, and the seller decides either to keep the product or offer it at a lower price.
Corollary: my Thanksgiving dinner is not going to cost more than last year’s; there are two items I had last year that cost more this year than I value them, and they will be in the store rather than on my table, and my wallet is no more empty than it was a year ago.
In the past six months I’ve bought more store brand stuff than ever before in my life!
“bread, milk, and eggs”
Add butter and cheese and that’s a big part of my diet.
They have all but bread over doubled in price since Brandon.
Still can get bread for less than a dollar at Aldis and Lidl.
When I was a kid and gas prices starting going, we had a neighbor who was a trucker who told my dad stock up on food because prices are gonna skyrocket.
I stocked up the moment Brandon nixed our energy production.
We used to call that overhead.
Back when I taught business courses, I would walk into the classroom the first evening, and immediately grab the overhead projector and place it on the floor. I would then turn to the class and say, "I have just taught you the most important lesson in business, that you must remember even if you forget everything else in this course. The most important lesson is this: the best way to maximize profit is to lower your overhead."
The students never got the joke. Eventually the projectors were replaced by more contemporary technology anyway.
Thanks for the laugh
Blaming COMPANIES that provide goods and services for higher prices is almost as intelligent as blaming gravity for airline crashes.
Great joke. I would be laughing my ass off in your class.
Nice of them to tell someone else how to run their business.
Bingo. Publix yogurt from .44 to .66
Milk at aldi 2.40
Milk at publix 4.95
Talk about inflating past the cost of inflating ... and the dudes that own the Times are loaded, so no need to rip off advertisers or to lay off employees.
They have to. They know what is coming and any good business will adjust their prices for future estimates. Do any of these food producers thing Chomo Joe is going to do anything to help lower the cost of diesel??? Comeon, MAN!
Common sense.
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