about grocery prices

[MrsBrady]

I'm in the DFW area. I live in the Fort Worth suburban side of things.
I shop at Kroger.
(I would prefer Whole Foods, but we don't have them over here, Dallas does. The closet to me is 10 miles.)

Can anyone tell me why, when there is talk of deflation and gas prices are down/steady (compared to last year)...(regular unleaded is about 1.80/90, depending.)
Why are prices at the grocery store going up?
This is happening with both the natural/organic brands and the commercial brands. Even their in-house brands are up.
My husband and I don't have kids (just animals for now), and I'm back in school...we are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but we are doing ok.
I try to buy organic/whole grain, etc when we can afford it. We buy organic dairy no matter what.
We spend slightly more while shopping, but we have quit going out to eat...with a few exceptions.
It's as much due to trying to save money/not spend so much vs. we got tired of eating bad food when going out to eat.

I was wondering if they were trying to get as much money out of shoppers while less and less are going out?...so "let's take their money while we can"?
I don't know. I didn't know if someone else here might know what is up. Maybe it's just plain greed.

Petco, Target, Wal-mart seem up as well.

I get a few things from a "family owned" produce/specialty store just down the street like free range eggs and locally made tortillas, vitamins, etc...
Their prices have not gone up at all, even with all the gas prices up and down the last couple of years.

any thoughts?

[Trajan]

1. Isn't Whole Foods based in Texas ?

I seem to recall that; Isn't that what I discovered when they bought out the local Wild Oats supermarket ?

[MrsBrady]

2. it is...

but there is not one close to me.

you have any thoughts on why prices are up?

[Trajan]

19. Oh .... that's easy ...

Pure unbridled greed ....

Prices in Oregon have BARELY decreased after last years 'transportation cost' run up ....

This is usual behavior by grocery chains, but this time: People HAVE stopped buying so much, and corporate grocers have been getting caught
with oversized inventories ...

I am very choosy, and I let them know I wont buy anything in their store if I perceive the price exceeds their competitors ...

Good Luck ....

[Obamanaut]

22. Ten miles is not all that far. Wait until you have a quantity of things

to buy, then get them all at once. The extra 20 mile round trip (10 miles in your OP) to the Whole Food will only add a couple of bucks to the outing.

Prices are up because we are accustomed to the "higher price due to high cost of fuel" when gas was more costly. Now, the prices are up, so they stay up.

Edited to add: There are only three grocery stores in my small town. The CLOSEST is 12 miles, and it's a Walmart, which is the only store for general merchandise. For groceries, we shop at one of the other two.

[melm00se]

3. one possible cause:

some products began their manufacturing cycle during the peak oil prices.

Take wheat as an example: some of the harvest happened in the fall of 2008 when gas prices were, while not at their peak, close to it and that price was built into the wholesale price. Just because gas prices dropped a week or month later does not undo the expense built into the product produced during the higher cost period.

This takes a while (entire dependent upon inventory levels and the like) to work itself out of the system.

But I have a feeling that this won't work its way out as quickly as it has in the past for a couple of reasons:

1) companies must make a profit and with sales down, an adjustment in price is one way to impact the profit margin.

2) oil prices are, right now, down because of a slow economy (supply and demand - nowhere near the demand compared to a year ago) but once the economy picks up, the smart money is on an increase in oil prices to close, if not more, to it's historical highs.

Product pricing is one the biggest challenge any business has. Think about going out to dinner as an example:

High prices can have as much an impact as low prices do on your selection of a place too eat:

a Steak dinner at Chez Tres Dear is $60 a plate. the line waiting to eat is short but the price is too high, so you go elsewhere.
the same steak dinner at Bob's Corner Pocket is just as good but is $5 a plate. Great price but whenever you go, the line is 4 hours long and if/when you get seated they are out of steak...so you go elsewhere.
The same steak dinner at an unnamed (because I can't think of another name) that is in the middle, price wise: cheap enough that you can afford it, expensive enough that it keeps the waiting line short enough to be tolerable so you go there.

[pnutbutr]

4. prices should start to go down if

the deflation continues which really isn't a good thing. March 09 .038% deflation.

[Chipper Chat]

5. A lot of the cost increase is due to packaging -

you know, those glorious pictures of digital ultra-green broccoli with ultra-orange cheeze-whiz glooping off of it. It's "so important" to look good in the freezer section.
(Sorry if I spoiled anyone's breakfast).

[cali]

6. I don't know why food prices continue to go up

but i do know that you can (at least for the time being) still eat well for relatively little. Yesterday, for instance, I boughtchicken thighs and legs for .69 a pound. I bought 10 pounds and froze it. i also bought canned and stewed tomatoes for 5 for 5. you can still purchase cabbage, carrots and celery cheaply. I buy butter for 2.59 a lb. I did my food shopping for a week, and got out of the store for under $45. I'll make such things as lentil soup, chicken country captain and rice salad with veggies, peanuts and a curry dressing. I buy a lot of grains and dried beans at the co-op as well as herbs and spices. Eating well and cheap takes some planning but it's really not that hard to do as long as you stay away from prepared foods.

[MrsBrady]

7. we don't eat much prepared foods...

I cook almost all from scratch, except for pasta.

I'm just seeing things going up over all.

There's not any co-op around here. If there was, I'd be there.

[Mrs. Overall]

8. I'm in WA State and I've noticed that organic milk has dropped a dollar a gallon

in the past month. That is the only thing I've noticed trending downward and I'm not sure why.

[L0oniX]

9. More corn being used for fuel.

[Cass]

10. Same thing where I am.

I noticed a huge spike in grocery prices right around the first of this year - some products went up anywhere from $1 - $4 in a week! - even though gas prices had fallen below the $2 mark months before that.

I haven't heard an explanation for this, either and just figure we are being fleeced. I can't keep absorbing all these increases - its crazy! Its just the two of us and its rough, I don't know how families do it.

[MrsBrady]

11. I know...

we were just talking about how it's hard enough for us to have 4 animals with all the food and vet bills.
That's cheaper than kids though.

My cousin is about to have a baby...they are in a much better situation than we are. They'll be ok....but I wouldn't want to have to pay for diapers right now...wow.
I went to buy some a few months ago for a friend that was having a baby. Now there is some price gouging. I couldn't believe the diaper prices. outrageous.

[TorchTheWitch]

15. same for me too

and just as you describe. Package sizes also simultaneously got smaller. Some of the stuff I buy has even doubled or more in price, but everything has gone up across the board whether it's snacks, produce, meats, soups, frozen foods, breads, dairy, detergent, sundries... everything. The only pretty good thing is that the store I shop at has really good sales constantly where a lot of the things I normally buy are on sale. Even still, my grocery bill has skyrocketed. What used to cost around $45 a supermarket trip is now about double that especially if all or most of the stuff I bought wasn't on sale.

[EFerrari]

12. I saw a report about a month ago that said what you are saying.

They pointed out that corn and sugar have decreased in price but that food with corn and sugar has gone up -- to make up for sales going down. fwiw

[Captain Hilts]

13. People have shown that they'll still buy at the higher prices. nt

[MrsBrady]

14. we DO have to eat

either way....

[Captain Hilts]

17. Yes. Demand is fairly inelastic. They know that. They track buying patterns with the discount

cards. They know who buys what.

[Lorien]

16. I heard a news story on NPR about it recently. The increases are coming

from the wholesale/ producer end of things. The grocery store chains are up in arms about it; they, too, are asking why producers are charging more when oil corn, wheat, etc. prices are declining, and no one is giving them an answer.

Do you have an Aldi's or Costco in your area? Many cities do have several Aldis (a low price German chain) but most of the public doesn't know about it. They don't advertise much to keep costs low.

And check to see if you have any locally owned pet food stores in your area. I shop at one in an upscale area of town and notice that their prices are significantly lower than PetCo and Petsmart. Feed stores also sometimes have great prices on high quality human grade pet foods (don't get suckered by Iams, Eukanuba, Nutro, etc. They're no better than Purina or Alpo. Go for Innova, Pinnacle, Wellness, Spot's stew, sojos, etc.-less fillers, more nutrition for the buck)!

[Baby Snooks]

18. Buying on borrowed money....

Reality is the wholesalers are corporate entities and like all corporate entities they are insolvent so they operate on borrowed money. And most of the grocery chains are also corporate entities and also are insolvent and so they are buying from the wholesalers on borrowed money. The problem is there isn't much money to borrow so they are paying more and so in turn are we. Although many of us are buying on borrowed money as well. I've notice more and more people are "charging" the groceries.

Things ain't gonna get better. Not on Main Street anyway. Despite the supposition that it would "trickle down" again. Of course honestly things ain't getting better on Wall Street either.

[carlyhippy]

20. groceries are going up all over

lots of people are putting in gardens and buying at farmer's markets, so I wonder if they are trying to get the $$ while they can.

[SmileyRose]

21. Weren't some subsidies cut under Bush?

BTW - as expensive as groceries might seem - my actual dollar income right now is equal to what I made in the early 90's and when inflation etc is factored in I'm about where I was in that very first full time job back in the late 70's - but I'm feeding 3 on a lower percentage of my income than food was for just me back then.

There's a reason why McD's can still sell it's $1 menu. Food prices have been artificially low. And that's not exactly a good thing with rampant obesity in this country.