At some point we gonna have to address these grocery prices

[Womb Raider]

what the fukk is a "pizza fry"??? do you hear how fat you sound???

Fries with cheese and pizza sauce

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

Prices at the supermarket keep rising. So do corporate profits.

Is it really inflation? Or something else?

www.vox.com

Spoiler

Food companies say their price increases merely reflect how much their costs have gone up due to “inflationary pressures,” like higher labor costs, transportation delays, and capacity issues, or the higher price of grains and animal feed. Yet inflation in 2022 outpaced the rise in wages in most industries, and the prices of many agricultural commodities have come down.

The eyebrow-raising spikes at the grocery store can only partly be blamed on manufacturers’ higher costs. The inflation narrative offers the perfect jumping-off point for companies to raise prices, and major food manufacturers are taking advantage of the moment to boost their profits.

The proof? Look at just how rich companies have gotten since the start of the pandemic.

Who exactly is making money off your expensive food?​

Chances are, you’ve bought a product that the food giant Cargill has had a hand in sourcing or processing, whether it’s wheat, soy, cocoa, feed for livestock, or the meat that ends up in grocery stores and restaurants. In fiscal year 2022, its revenue reached a record $165 billion. A record $6.68 billion of that was profit, double what its profits were in 2020. Its shareholders received $1.21 billion of those profits in dividends — yet another record.

“Corporate profits have hit their highest level ever, and corporate profit margins — how much they’re making on each unit that they’re selling — have hit the highest level in 70 years,” said Chris Becker, senior economist at the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive economic advocacy organization.

Tyson Foods, the largest meat company in the US, also more than doubled its profits between the first quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Packaged foods manufacturer General Mills, which owns a variety of cereal brands as well as food brands like Annie’s, Betty Crocker, Chex, and Bisquick, has raised prices five times since 2021 and indicated another price hike could be coming soon. At the end of last year, its profits were up 97 percent compared to the previous quarter, and up 16 percent annually. Conagra, which owns packaged food brands like Healthy Choice, Duncan Hines, and Reddi-wip, noted a 22 percent profit increase in its last quarterly earnings report. Grocery giant Walmart — the largest US corporation, bar none — has seen its profits grow for the past several years, with a 7 percent jump between 2020 and 2021.

It’s not just companies growing richer. Food billionaires — the people at the top of the food chain at many of these companies — have grown exponentially wealthier, too.

The seven billionaire members of the Walton family, which owns Walmart, have a combined net worth of $238 billion, according to a recent Oxfam report, and their wealth increased by $8.8 billion between 2020 and 2022.

For the past few years, Oxfam’s annual reports on global inequality have emphasized the windfall profits that food corporations and the individuals who run them have made during the pandemic. The Cargills, some of the food industry’s most powerful players, are a very good example. Almost 90 percent of their namesake food and commodities trading company is owned by family members, who have all been enriched thanks to their stake in the largest privately held company in the US.

Today, there are four more billionaires in the Cargill family than there were in 2020, bringing the tally up to 12 billionaire heirs.

The Mars family, whose company makes candy (3 Musketeers, Skittles, M&M’s, Snickers), packaged food (Ben’s Original, Tasty Bite, MasterFoods), pet food, and more, boast six billionaire members who are together worth about $115 billion. Between 2020 and 2021, they added $21 billion to their fortunes.

“During the pandemic alone, billionaires involved in the food and agribusiness sectors — just those billionaires — increased their wealth by at least $400 billion,” said Nabil Ahmed, director of economic justice at Oxfam America. “We’ve seen 62 new food billionaires created during the pandemic.”

 

[ROFL_GUY]

Fries with cheese and pizza sauce

@Scustin Bieburr

 

[lone_druid]

Processed food gang is straight up losing in the supermarket. They're paying 50% more for items that have shrunk in size by 25%. I get inflation, but this might be the government signaling people to lay off the doritos.

 

[Buckeye Fever]

Fries with cheese and pizza sauce

I legit saw a video of that being made on Facebook yesterday

 

[Mr swag]

6 figures gang. I can’t relate. I don’t even looks at prices.

 

[Chrishaune]

#Gardengang is winning

 

[ROFL_GUY]

#Gardengang is winning

i enjoy gardening its peaceful

 

[Lexington Steele]

The Supply Chain is in shambles + the value of the dollar is decreasing

1. A bad Supply Chain raises the prices of manufacturing and shipping costs, which in turn makes the goods more expensive on the Retail level
2. A decreasing value of the dollar means the prices of everything is going up on top of that your spending power decreases as well


This common sense Economics 101

The fact that these posts got daps

Any time someone says "It's Economics 101!" you can disregard anything they're saying.

 

[maxamusa]

Any time someone says "It's Economics 101!" you can disregard anything they're saying.

breh prolly been eating saltines and canned tuna a week straight with that PHD in economics

 

[ORDER_66]

I dont even feel like shopping at the supermarket anymore because shyt is unnecessarily expensive... the only thing that isnt has been juices, water... meats poultry and eggs is way too high...

 

[Dafunkdoc_Unlimited]

Last time I offered suggestions on how to save money on groceries I got ridiculed so.....​

 

[Kenny West]

But the Coli told me Stimulus checks, Unemployment payouts, and PPP loans wouldn't cause Inflation

There's always one

 

[fifth column]

Thank god I’m from Jamaica and can cook so it’s all good over here

 

[UpAndComing]

Any time someone says "It's Economics 101!" you can disregard anything they're saying.

And anytime the person quoting you does not address the post you made to shamelessly dap fish you can disregard what they are saying

Ya'll are embarrassing