It is another Fall Sunday and down here the temps have cooled a bit (but for how long?) and my attempt to bring a little FYI to your day.
We all have had sticker shock when we visit our local supermarket…..am I right? It seems that nothing comes down and just keeps eating into our wallets.
Some say that food prices lead to the victory in the last election.
Where do live?
How are prices in your state?
I live in Mississippi and you would think that because of the low wages and living standard we would be on the low end of the scale of prices…..if you think that then sorry but you would be wrong.
Curious how the price of eggs (and other groceries) is really looking across the country? Visual Capitalist has the scoop on how grocery shopping averages out across the US, with the median household dropping $270 on a weekly haul. That’s up about 20% nationwide since August 2020. Wisconsin fared best in the analysis—with households dishing out about $221 per week—while these 10 states had the most costly grocery tabs in America:
- Hawaii: $334 per week
- Alaska: $329
- California: $298
- Nevada: $295
- Mississippi: $291
- Washington: $288
- Florida: $287
- New Mexico, Texas: $286 (tie)
- Louisiana: $283
See the full list on Visual Capitalist.
Find your state and be thankful, if lower than MS, that you do not live here.
But why are food prices so high?
There are probably many things to answer for these increases but the one that I believe is the best contributor is….greed.
Grocery stores’ profit margins increased in recent years, according to a March 2024 report by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC report notes that food and beverage retailers saw their revenues outpace their costs by more than 6% in 2021. That was a new high for that particular profit measure until 2023, when it reached 7%.
Food manufacturers have relied on price hikes and other tactics to maintain profitability, as well. Take chocolate for example, which has become even more expensive to make this year because of record-high cocoa prices. Companies saw shoppers become more sensitive to chocolate prices as they went up. While shoppers spent more money on chocolate in each of the past two years, they actually cut back on the quantities they bought, according to NielsenIQ data provided to NerdWallet in March.
When that happens, companies know they can’t keep raising prices without further impacting their sales volume. Instead, they make other product changes, like shrinking packages, giving you less product for the same price. That maneuver is known by detractors as shrinkflation.
Members of Congress and the Biden administration have taken turns slamming food companies for these tactics. President Joe Biden called out “shrinkflation” during his State of the Union speech in March. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren blamed high grocery prices on “corporate price gouging” during a Senate subcommittee hearing on high food prices in May.
FTC Chair Lina Khan has said she wants the commission to launch an inquiry into big grocery chains’ pricing practices.
A commission huh?
That ought to bring prices down.
That aside does anyone see lower prices with the incoming economic plan?
I do not.
Whatcha think?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”