The Hidden Ways the Cost of Food Is Going Up
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Here's your money briefing for Thursday, July 15th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Inflation's been on the rise as the economy recovers from the pandemic. Just last month, prices rose at their fastest pace in more than a decade. And you're likely to feel the pain in your wallet or pocketbook every time you grocery shop or go to a restaurant.
The companies want to be able to protect their profit margins by charging more, but they know that consumers are really in tune and pay attention.
But even the most savvy shoppers might be paying more for food and not even know it. On today's show, we'll ask our food industry reporter Annie Gasparro about the hidden ways the cost of food is going up. That's after the break.
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How is inflation affecting grocery and restaurant prices right now?
You don't need us to tell you your grocery bill is taking a bigger bite out of your household budget. But you might be paying more for food than you even realize. Annie Gasparro covers the food industry for the WSJ. She's been digging around this issue and she's here to talk about it. Annie, thanks for being with us. Thanks for having me. So Annie, anybody who's gone up and down the aisles of the grocery store knows their prices are up a lot. What's been driving up food prices so sharply?
Well, it's really everything along the supply chain and that's why it's such a big impact. Everything from the ingredients like cooking oil or grains or meat to the cost of shipping the food, the cost of the packaging materials like plastic. There's just so many different steps along the supply chain and all of them almost are facing higher costs right now for various reasons.
Okay, so just looking at the price tag tells us we're going to dig deeper in our wallets. Let's talk about the more hidden ways that food is getting more expensive. What's the number one tricky thing that companies are doing?
Well, you know, the companies want to be able to protect their profit margins by charging more, but they know that consumers are really in tune and pay attention. So they're trying to do things like change up the packaging rather than having to just outright raise the price tag. And that could be something like a smaller box of cereal or a smaller carton of ice cream, both of which we are seeing in the grocery store now. Or it can also just be that the company makes a more convenient package. There's some new packaging coming out that is resealable for snacking and the companies can charge more for that because it's a more convenient option for consumers and they're willing to pay for it so you're seeing smaller packaging but also just like more enhanced or convenient packaging that they're charging more for
Got it. So what about trying to find good deals? Couldn't shoppers just look for products on sale?
You know, the discounts aren't as good right now. That's another thing that the companies are doing to try to drive average prices higher. They're still offering a lot of promotions, but the discounts just aren't as good.
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