Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
By now, we’ve all grown accustomed to hearing about the stubborn inflation rate and its impact on virtually everything we buy. For some purchases, like a new car or washing machine, many of us can make do with what we’ve got until costs come back down. But there’s one thing nobody can avoid: buying food.
Unfortunately, it appears that supermarket prices keep creeping higher at a seemingly faster pace than other consumer goods. It’s easy to just chalk it all up to supply and demand, but when it comes to food prices, it’s a bit more complicated.
The truth behind that eye-popping receipt
As someone who utilizes loyalty cards and coupons at every opportunity, it’s now obvious that the sale prices for many pantry staples are now the same, if not higher, than the regular price was not too long ago.
The official annual inflation rate last month hit 8.2%, but for groceries, that number was 11.2%! You don’t have to be a math whiz to realize that this is an unsustainable increase for folks who were already struggling to make ends meet. And it’s not any better when you go out to a restaurant, where prices were up nearly 1% over the course of just one month.
So what’s behind all this chaos?
Experts agree that there are several contributing factors — from the war in Ukraine to climate change — that might not seem obvious at first. Andrew Harig of the Food Industry Association reacted to the latest inflation report by explaining: “Spikes in costs due to labor, production disruptions, transportation demands, and global conflict are affecting every aspect of the food business. Today’s numbers make it clear that there is still work to be done to address these issues.”
Time to clip some more coupons.
