Grocery prices will increase by three percent before the end of the year, according to one of America’s largest supermarkets.
Cincinnati-based Kroger generated $132 billion in sales last year, but the company said inflation has been lasting longer than previously estimated, changing their expectations for prices.
Owners say they expect prices to increase by 2 to 3 percent in the second half of this year.
it came as white House Last week’s data showed that the increase in meat prices accounted for half the increase in food prices at home since December 2020.
Since December, prices of beef have risen by 14 percent, pork by 12 percent and poultry by 6.6 percent.
CFO Gary Millerchip said Friday on the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Kroger “will be passing along higher costs to the customer where it makes sense to do so.”
Management at Albertsons Companies – which operates 21 retail brands including Albertsons, Jewel-Osco and Safeway – reported projected revenues of $70 billion dollars in 2020 and expressed similar concerns that inflation will hit the second half of this year. Will get hot
He also said that he will have to increase the prices of some of his products.
Further prices on groceries will put more pressure on consumers as they are already dealing with the biggest annual increase in consumer prices since August 2008.
According to the White House, beef, pork and poultry account for half of the increase in food prices at home since December 2020. Since that time, beef prices have increased by 14 percent, pork by 12.1 percent, and poultry by 6.6 percent. Percent
Image: The annual growth of sea freight rates has increased dramatically from January 2020 (less than 500) to January 2021 (at 2500 levels), making international trade in goods difficult.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of all goods, a measure of economy-wide inflation, rose 0.5 per cent from June 2021 to July 2021 before seasonal adjustment, up 5.4 per cent from July 2020.
CPI figures for August are expected to be released this week.
The CPI of all food items grew by 0.7 per cent from June 2021 to July 2021, and food prices were 3.4 per cent higher than in July 2020.
The food-away-from-home (restaurant purchase) CPI grew by 0.8 per cent in July 2021 and was 4.6 per cent higher as compared to July 2020.
The Food-at-Home Consumer Price Index rose 0.6 percent from June 2021 to July 2021, contributing to an annualized growth of 2.7 percent so far in 2021.
Red meat, which includes beef, veal and pork, as well as poultry, are the items that will see the most impact of price hikes, if they haven’t already.
Beef and veal prices rose 0.5 percent from June to July 2021, pork prices up 2.2 percent; And poultry prices increased by 1.9 percent.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of all goods, a measure of economy-wide inflation, rose 0.5 per cent from June 2021 to July 2021 before seasonal adjustment, up 5.4 per cent from July 2020. The August CPI figures will be released as follows. Week
Beef prices are up 14 percent this year, while pork prices are up 12.1 percent, and poultry prices are up 6.6 percent.
These hikes come after five consecutive months of price hikes for all three categories. Prices have been driven by strong domestic and international demand, higher feed costs and supply chain disruptions due to the COVID pandemic.
Winter storms and drought affected meat prices this spring, and processing facility closures due to cybersecurity attacks affected beef and other meat production in May.
Beef and veal prices are now projected to rise between four and five percent in 2021.
Pork prices are projected to rise between five and six per cent, while poultry prices are predicted to rise between three and four per cent.
Prices for the total category of ‘meat’ are projected to rise between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent for the remainder of 2021.
Among all CPI food-at-home categories tracked by the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service, the fresh fruits category had the highest relative price increase (4.9 percent) and the fresh vegetables category had the smallest (0.4 percent) Is. compared to last year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service reported that the fresh fruits category had the highest relative price increase (4.9 percent) and the fresh vegetables category had the smallest (0.4 percent).
There has been no reduction in the prices of any food category in 2021 as compared to 2020.
The Federal Reserve has said that many price increases since the start of the pandemic are “temporary” and those pressures will ease as supply-chain disruptions and shortages are resolved.
However, the Biden administration said there were other reasons for inflation besides rising demand and supply-chain issues.
The administration pointed fingers at meat processors, saying it was concerned about “epidemic profiteering” and a lack of competition within the industry.
The International Monetary Fund predicted a rise in food prices before the start of the pandemic by January 2018.
The Biden administration is looking for solutions to stem the ups and downs in food and producer prices (pictured) by tackling the meat processing industry.
‘Just the four big conglomerates control the majority of the market for each of these three products’ [beef, pork and poultry], and the data shows that these companies are raising prices while generating record profits during the pandemic,’ Brian Deez, director of the National Economic Council, said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
According to Dees, the administration is taking “bold action by enforcing anti-trust laws, promoting competition in meat-processing and emphasizing pandemic profiteering that has hurt consumers, farmers and ranchers across the country.”
It remains to be seen whether the administration’s efforts will contribute to the possible reduction in prices.
Meanwhile, customers are opting for private label brands as a temporary cost-effective solution.
Kroger CEO William McMullen said, “If you go back to an earlier time, when you had inflation, customers will, many times, trade our brands as part of their budget structure.” ‘We are not seeing budget changes on our brands at the moment, but I am sure inflation will continue.’
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