St. Paul, Minn. — Grocery shopping for this year’s Super Bowl party can be a little cheaper than a year ago, at least if you choose chicken wings and shrimp over beef and tortilla chips.
But the concept of saving money is relative, as we’ve weathered historic inflation every time we walk down the grocery store aisle over the past few years.
“It’s almost become a game of whack-a-mole for consumers,” said Joe Redden, a professor of marketing analysis at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. “So that you know what’s coming next with a big price increase, and how you should change your eating habits in light of what’s happened. Sticker shock is really noticeable when you check out. , notice that the sum is much larger than before. ”
That sticker shock persists for a majority of Americans, even though inflation has improved recently. According to recent information, Vibes survey The Axios/Harris Poll found that about 72% of respondents said groceries are where they feel the most impact from inflation, and 59% said they felt angry, anxious or resigned while grocery shopping. .
That frustration has been building up in recent years. Food prices increased by just 1.3% in 2023, but have increased by about 20% over the past three years.
“One of the challenges with food inflation is that it’s consistently rising and it’s building on top of that,” Redden said. “Even if there is little inflation now and it’s flat, you’re still going to end up paying a lot more than you were one, two, three years ago.”
For Everymeal, a local nonprofit that partners with schools to provide weekend food to students’ families, the pain felt by these high prices is twofold.
“More families are coming to us because they are facing very high prices,” Williams said. “But we’re still paying sky-high prices. Rise may be slowing, but prices aren’t coming down.”
Williams said Everymeal recently countered rising costs by expanding its warehouse space and buying more food in bulk.
“The trick is you have to pay cash upfront, so even if you spend six months on a truckload of green coffee, you have to pay all that money upfront to get that price. Hmm. We need to put it somewhere,” Williams said. “Our program costs a penny a bag, or more than $4,000 a year. What if it goes up 50 cents?”
Fortunately, Redden says recent inflation statistics are encouraging, as are some of the early signs from manufacturers.
“In recent financial results, we are beginning to see a rebound in price increases,” he said. “Some of the big food manufacturers are seeing the number of units they sell go down, so they’re charging more per unit and making more profit on every unit they sell, while at the same time , total units sold are decreasing.”
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