When we posed the question, “What do you think caused grocery prices to go up so much?” to our Facebook audience, we weren’t prepared for the avalanche of responses! The post blew up with 1.3K reactions and over 8,000 comments.
Here are some of the best theories — and let’s just say, some opinions are pretty spicy!
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“People are being paid more, so that affects the cost of every step.”
One commenter said, bringing up everything from raw ingredients to retail employees. But not everyone agreed, with others firing back, “Corporate profits are the reason,” and “Greed! They went up before wages did!”
Another user suggested that it’s a mix of reasons:
“Costs went up, but some companies were fair, while others were not. Competition decreased, shoplifting increased, and smaller businesses went under.” It’s a vicious cycle, they argue, leaving us all with higher grocery bills.
Transportation was another hot topic.
“Fuel costs skyrocketed,” one liquor store worker shared. “I see that at the liquor store I work at. Our prices went up due to transportation costs.”
Some people think COVID is to blame, and not just for toilet paper hoarding.
“Supply chain issues and lack of competition let corporations keep prices high,” one commenter pointed out, adding that big companies merging only makes it worse. “Kroger and Albertsons are trying to merge, which will just make things worse for us.”
One savvy commenter had a more cynical take:
“Supply and demand at first, then they realized we would pay that amount, so it stayed up.”
It didn’t stop there — government spending got its share of the blame, too.
“Inflation’s out of control because we spent money we didn’t have!” someone exclaimed. They added that fuel costs and production expenses have also driven prices up from seed to shelf.
And then, there was this straight-to-the-point explanation:
“Greedy shop owners!” Well, when in doubt, blame greed.
Another commenter got straight to the numbers:
“80% of the USD in circulation was printed in the last 4 years. That’s the single biggest reason.” We’ll leave that one to the economists to debate.
Some folks zeroed in on wages:
“Putting the minimum wage up started this endless cycle,” one person said. But, in response, others blamed corporate bonuses: “CEOs are getting millions in bonuses while we struggle. I’m not talking a couple hundred thousand, I’m talking millions!”
A few saw it from a broader perspective:
“It’s not political. It’s a handful of conglomerates that control prices and gouge everything we buy.” Sounds like we’re all playing by the grocery store’s rules.
And then came the monopolies theory:
“There are only a few major corporations that manufactured and supply the groceries. These monopolies were able to increase prices in order to keep profits at a record high. Knowing that consumers had no choice but to payout more money for groceries.” Trapped between a shopping cart and a hard place!
One commenter threw another theory into the mix:
“Government regulations are squeezing smaller companies. They can’t compete with the big guys, so the big ones just charge whatever they want. It’s like we’re living in a grocery monopoly game!”
Another thought outside the box and suggested,
“Price increases are also partly psychological. People are willing to pay more when they think things are scarce. Remember the great toilet paper panic? It’s like they figured out we’ll buy anything if we think we’ll run out.”
Finally, one commenter offered an old-school solution:
“I remember back in the 70s when coffee jumped sky high and my mother said she wasn’t buying the coffee until the price came down and everyone followed suit and the prices came down. That’s what we need to do. But you can’t do that with necessities.” Hmm, a grocery strike? Who’s in?
While everyone has their theories, one thing’s for sure:
We’re all feeling the pinch in the checkout line, and it doesn’t look like relief is on sale anytime soon. Between corporate profits, rising wages, and fuel costs, the reasons are endless. Until something changes, we’ll just have to keep hunting for sales and trying not to faint at the price of eggs!
