Posted on 02/23/2022 3:59:58 AM PST by RomanSoldier19
In parts of Eastern Europe this year, rising prices, particularly on food and utilities, have prompted large scale demonstrations, with police controlling crowds with tear gas and stun grenades. Meanwhile, in the West, price protests have been far more muted. There has been a “benign reaction” to increases as Andre Schulten, CFO at P&G said in a January earnings call, which was reported in Forbes. In the same article, Church & Dwight CMO Barry Bruno commented that “pricing is a muscle we’re going to continue building as we expect a prolonged inflationary environment.” The bet is that consumers will continue to accept the hikes, after being schooled through Covid in “supply chain issues” and labor shortages.
But patience (and pocketbooks) may be wearing thin. In markets the world over, government stimulus is being withdrawn, fuel and grocery prices are going up, and the specter of higher interest rates looms large.
With all that as a backdrop, it was fascinating to listen to Walmart’s Q4 earnings call this week. Results were strong (full year revenue up 2.4%), but that’s not what caught my ear. John Furner (Walmart U.S. CEO) noted that while its consumers are in “good shape with a strong balance sheet”, they are starting to pay closer attention to price. Walmart CFO Brett Biggs told CNBC that “we’ve seen and we heard through our own studies that people are certainly focused on inflation and they’re seeing that in their daily lives.”
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
The last time Russia had trouble delivering its wheat to the Middle East was two bad harvests in 2010 and 2011. Bread prices tripled and you got the Arab Spring.
Ukraine is 2 million tons short of Fertilizer. Russia has admitted to major shortages as well.
Hunger induced revolutions are coming.
consumer price protests are coming, along with the associated brand switching and trading down.
Already happening here.
Keep your $25/lb steak. Enjoy looking at it rot before your eyes. All through the store shopping down will happen. Eventually it will force prices back some.
My local Walmart has all kinds of new security precautions.
Just some.
Find a local cattle farmer and buy directly from the farmer. You and several friends can “split” the cost of the cow and processing, divide the meat and have better quality.
That’s what people do here. We no longer raise cattle but enough neighbors do and they all sell directly to their neighbors. It’s good to live rural.
“My local Walmart has all kinds of new security precautions.”
Hmm. Like what? I haven’t been there in awhile.
“The bet is that consumers will continue to accept the hikes, after being schooled through Covid ...”
COVID “schooling” taught me that the government lies about everything and the media just passes it on. This isn’t a very stable situation IMO.
And what is Walmart's grand strategy? Keep prices low, i.e. sneakily lower quality and quantity in order to profit without raising prices too quickly.
Walmart had a monopsony so they could force suppliers to do whatever was necessary to meet Walmart's demands with regard to shelf price. This resulted in many suppliers being forced to supply from China. Made in America was verboten in Walmart.
What's the price of melamine in Aisle 4?
You are steering people in the right direction, making them all into steakholders.
I’ve noticed store brands are often the products that are sold out.
My small town Walmart hasn’t changed much yet. Some Shelves on some products are empty or sparse from tie to time and the prices on most products are way up, but nobody has locked up the steaks or lobsters yet.
I’ve been thinking about a chest freezer for exactly this.
>>COVID “schooling” taught me that the government lies about everything
I already had little faith in the FedGov, and Covid cemented that. Were it in my power, we’d zero out the CDC’s budget and start over.
Wal-Mart doesn’t always have the cheapest prices around. Often you can find great deals and better variety at local chains. There is still some competition out there.
Yes.
Eventually most reappear in a few weeks, albeit at a higher price.
Some imported items don’t come back at all. I have been waiting for some european items to come back but they stubbornly do not.
I was talking to an Iranian hairdresser who came here long ago. She said it’s becoming here like it is over there. Everybody knows the truth, but nobody talks about it.
NO problem for the food stamp people to eat better than the rest of us. Guess who is buying the $25 steaks?
A week ago Winn Dixie had t bones for 5 bucks a pound. I bought many. My wife said I was crazy. I said you will never see it that cheap again. Northwest Florida.
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