The Prince Albert Daily Herald’s Post

Will the proposed grocery code of conduct have any impact on food prices and the food industry? by Troy Media Sylvain Charlebois The proposed grocery code of conduct has sparked debate on just how effective it will be in stabilizing prices in Canada, and for good reason. #DrSylvainCharlebois #foodindustry #grocerycodeofconduct #Loblaw #opinion #TroyColumn #TroyMedia #Walmart

FAIR FARE? US CONSUMERS' PERCEPTIONS OF FOOD PRICING 'FAIRNESS' IN RESTAURANTS AND GROCERY STORES — by Maria Kalaitzandonakes, Jonathan Coppess and Brenna Ellison Using results from the Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey, we find that, although frustrated by high prices, most consumers felt prices were at least somewhat ‘fair’ at grocery stores. This was especially true of dollar stores and discount grocery stores, where over a third of participants indicated they were going more often due to price increases. Some of the most common shopping outlets (e.g., supermarkets) were not viewed as favorably. Consumers were generally less impressed with pricing at restaurants, in particular, fast food restaurants. The majority of consumers felt fast food restaurant prices were unfair, and over half said prices were causing them to reduce their frequency of trips to fast food restaurants. Finally, consumers were most accepting of price increases to accommodate increased ingredient costs and increased employee wages. Consumers were generally not accepting of increases to support improved profitability, and about 15% of consumers thought there was no acceptable reason for price increases. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eKhixjwY #food #prices #inflation #restaurants #grocery #stores #consumers

Supermarkets To Face Questioning By MPs Over Prices, Profits And Relationships With Producers Representatives from the UK’s leading supermarkets will give evidence to the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) this week as part of its ongoing ‘Fairness in the Food Supply Chain’ inquiry. Dom Morrey, Commercial Director for Fresh Food at Tesco, Rhian Bartlett, Chief Food Commercial Director at Sainsbury’s, Kris Comerford, Chief Commercial Officer for Food at Asda, Charlotte Di Cello, Commercial Director at Waitrose, and Richard Bourns, Chief Commercial Officer at Lidl GB, will be questioned about retailers’ role in the food supply chain and the impact of food price inflation on supermarkets, suppliers, and consumers. As part of the inquiry, the Committee has already taken evidence from academics, food producers, and manufacturers. The most recent session in March involved several leading food brands. During this week’s session, MPs are expected to focus on the relationship between food production costs, food prices and retail prices, and how structural relationships between producers, manufacturers, and retailers could be improved. Witnesses will be questioned on the nature of retailers’ profits in the context of the high food price environment and how they ensure that profits are distributed throughout their supply chains. They will also be asked about the extent to which the position of consumers is considered when setting prices. Retailers will also be questioned about the practice of shrinkflation and MPs are likely to ask whether retailers should be doing more to inform customers when package sizes have been reduced. Earlier last week, the government in France announced that it was bringing in new laws that will require retailers to inform customers when a product has been subject to shrinkflation. In previous evidence, MPs heard that retailers sometimes brand products in ways which could be misleading for consumers. The Committee is expected to ask witnesses how supermarkets’ labelling practices affect consumer confidence and understanding. NamNews Implications: * Apart from some insight for the next government… * …a major payoff for suppliers will be the insights gained re food pricing in retail. * We strongly recommend that NAMs record/view all proceedings  . #Pricing #Costs

Leslie Sarasin president and CEO of Arlington, Va.-based FMI- The Food Industry Association issued the following statement in response to Groundwork Collaborative’s report: “Politicizing grocery prices for political gain is completely counterproductive to improving the accessibility and quality of food for all Americans. “With the exception of a few notable outliers, such as a period of volatile energy spikes from 2007-8 and the current post-COVID inflationary period, increases in average grocery prices have held steady between 1% and 4% since 2003. This is due, in part, to the fierce competition in food retail, which operates on a slim 2.3% net profit margin. “There are a variety of external factors that impact costs at various stages of the supply chain that are beyond the control of food retailers, such as energy, labor and transportation. After a period of great volatility, we are now starting to see changes in some of these factors flow through to food pricing in 2024. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) own data predicts that food inflation will continue to slow in 2024, decreasing by a projected 0.4%, while restaurant food prices are anticipated to increase 4.7%.”

The Foodstuffs grocery co-operatives have recorded another month of food price inflation at their stores that’s below the official national average – underscoring their work to help control the cost of living and give New Zealanders a fair deal at the checkout.    Stats NZ today released its latest national food price inflation figure, of 0.4% p.a. in the 12 months to August, while the Foodstuffs co-ops recorded an average retail price increase of 0.1% p.a. for a comparable basket of goods, across their 500+ PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square stores.     The latest result follows the release of the Commerce Commission’s first Annual Grocery Report, which acknowledged the role high inflation had played in the rising cost of living from 2022-23, and noted the problem was worldwide and largely caused by international disruption and global supply chain issues like those caused by COVID-19 and the Ukraine War.    Foodstuffs NZ Managing Director Chris Quin says the Commission’s report rightly pointed out that the ‘worldwide trend of food price increases shows external international factors have the potential to have a much more significant impact on food pricing than the level of competition in the New Zealand grocery industry’.  Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gUgR_fke Chris Quin, Catherine Tardif, Cindy Chaimowitz, David Stewart, Jo Allan, Jonathan Box, Lindsay Rowles, Julian Benefield, Simon Kennedy, Wendy Hammonds, Dominic Quin, Andrew Gaukrodger, Stefan Herrick, Clinton Rowling, Esther Gordon, Sonia Beal, Graham Henderson, Chris Muller, Brigit Corson, Brendon Nash, Hilary Jamieson, Feri Tan, Torben Akel, Alexi O'Brien, Nicholas Hudson, Jocelyn McCallum

Here's How to Save on Fast Food This Summer — And Even Score Some for Free by Carl Stoffers Following months of complaints about rising prices related to inflation, several fast-food chains have announced new value deals. Here's how to take advantage of the savings.

Americans have been allocating more of their income to food over the past two years than in three decades. In a recent analysis by the Wall Street Journal, it was found that each of the top 10 largest U.S. restaurant chains by market value managed to achieve profits that either met or exceeded 2019 levels in the last fiscal year. Exciting trends in the food industry are shaping consumer behavior and financial performance. #FoodIndustry #ConsumerBehavior #FinancialPerformance

Food companies are working on fixes for consumers fed up with high prices, while trying to protect some of the biggest profits earned in years. Last fiscal year, each of the 10 largest U.S. restaurant chains by market value posted a profit that met or surpassed 2019 levels, according to an analysis of company filings. Now we are in the era of $5 meal deals and better biscuits. Will you keep buying? https://lnkd.in/g6nJxkwW

Don't miss out on the latest retail market insights from the   American Frozen Food Institute! Check out their latest report for valuable information on current trends and opportunities in the industry. Stay ahead of the curve and make informed decisions for your business. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eJfxBDPk #SuperiorFoods #AFFI #FrozenFoods #RetailInsights #FrozenFoodIndustry #MarketTrends  

For those wondering why food prices at the grocery store are so high, my recent article in NH Business Review takes a closer look and further explains why it is so important for all of us to support local food co-ops and independent grocery stores, where possible, rather than large grocery chains. I learned a lot in researching and writing this article, and I hope others learn a lot from reading it. #Foodforthought #ClimateCrisis #stophungernow #hunger #food