Supermarkets gouging customers

I've used the the rise in food prices to force myself to eat what is in my freezer. I had it full of bags of chicken breast, salmon, various packages of bread items, etc. I had a tendency to buy multiples of things when they were on special and freeze them. But, since I am a household of one, it takes a long time to use up all that food. I'm making progress though.
 
hollydolly said:
Not too bad here, fresh produce isn't up too much..even tho' we're at the highest inflation for 13 years..... price have certainly gone up but not so much with fresh produce..

We're suffering some shortages caused by the Russia/Ukraine war.. like Oild.. I took this photo today....usually we have at least 20 different brands of oil if not more, and altho' this was more than was available just a few days ago..it's still quite sparce comparitively..

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I'm having difficulty finding cucumbers. I never eat cucumbers but my guinea pigs do, so I'm scouting around trying to find some.
 
Don M. said:
I know that chicken farmers have purged millions of chickens in recent weeks, due to Avian Flu,
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We’ve had that here too. I didn’t need eggs so wasn’t looking at the price, just noticed that the space was quite bare. They’re asking people to temporarily take down bird feeders to abate the spread the AF.
 
Geezerette said:
I’ve experienced a lot of the same outrageous hikes in basic foodstuffs. Gas here is hovering around $3.99 a gallon. It’s very depressing, and I think it’s our very own American Oligarchs who refuse to take even a little cut in their massive profits who are causing it. Yes,Jace I have given up buying things I used to get often. Too boring to mention what, haha.
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I have given up buying some fruit and veg. I refuse to pay their exorbitant prices.
I wonder how much fresh produce is being thrown away because many people are not buying.
I surmise there would be a lot of stock left over in the supermarkets
 
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Is price gouging illegal where you are? Is there someone who can take the supermarkets to task for cheating farmers and customers? The only fresh produce I'm buying right now is oranges and recently caught a half off sale so I got two bags. My son buys avocados from Trader Joe's and says avocados are up by $1 each since last year! Costco is known for keeping their prices stable and even dropping prices if they get goods for less, but I haven't bought produce from there since my husband died over 3 years ago, nor checked their prices since the supply shortages. I think we're pretty blessed because our neighborhood supermarket has great sales (usually wait for them to shop then stock up) and generally their prices haven't risen much on non sale items. Between them and Costco, my grocery bills are still about $15 - $16 less per month than a couple of years ago.

@hollydolly @Leann My son tries to make sure to fill up at a Costco gas station. Their prices are generally lower. He said he doesn't like using a credit card either because they charge a little more for that privilege.
 
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OneEyedDiva said:
Is price gouging illegal where you are? Is there someone who can take the supermarkets to task for cheating farmers and customers? The only fresh produce I'm buying right now is oranges and recently caught a half off sale so I got two bags. My son buys avocados from Trader Joe's and says avocados are up by $1 each since last year! Costco is known for keeping their prices stable and even dropping prices if they get goods for less, but I haven't bought produce from there since my husband died over 3 years ago, nor checked their prices since the supply shortages. I think we're pretty blessed because our neighborhood supermarket has great sales (usually wait for them to shop then stock up) and generally their prices haven't risen much on non sale items. Between them and Costco, my grocery bills are still about $15 - $16 less per month than a couple of years ago.

@hollydolly @Leann My son tries to make sure to fill up at a Costco gas station. Their prices are generally lower. He said he doesn't like using a credit card either because they charge a little more for that privilege.
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Price gouging is not illegal. If the customer does not like the price, go elsewhere.
Collusion is illegal. Where two? companies get together to artificially raise prices, as in petrol stations.
Always difficult to prove though. Big business knows how to work the system to their advantage.
 
I'm still able to eat well. Pineapple is something I haven't eaten in a long time now due to high prices but the store does have it occasionally. I have a salad every day and the price of the veggies is OK and the store is well stocked. Poultry is a lot higher but I still buy it and prepare cheaper longer lasting meals with it. The gasoline prices are what is hurting me. :confused:
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Is price gouging illegal where you are? Is there someone who can take the supermarkets to task for cheating farmers and customers? The only fresh produce I'm buying right now is oranges and recently caught a half off sale so I got two bags. My son buys avocados from Trader Joe's and says avocados are up by $1 each since last year! Costco is known for keeping their prices stable and even dropping prices if they get goods for less, but I haven't bought produce from there since my husband died over 3 years ago, nor checked their prices since the supply shortages. I think we're pretty blessed because our neighborhood supermarket has great sales (usually wait for them to shop then stock up) and generally their prices haven't risen much on non sale items. Between them and Costco, my grocery bills are still about $15 - $16 less per month than a couple of years ago.

@hollydolly @Leann My son tries to make sure to fill up at a Costco gas station. Their prices are generally lower. He said he doesn't like using a credit card either because they charge a little more for that privilege.
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yes I should have gone to Costco yesterday... but in my defence I was 2 towns away from our nearest Costco.. they're not as prevalent here as the USA . At our Costco unleaded fuel is £1.51 per litre... £6.88 per gallon
 
I wonder what fuel prices are here - I'm going into town today so I'll see. On Tuesday, it was £1.57 / ltr. (£1 = $1.23)

Most vegetables are reasonably priced - and eggs are quite cheap. They range from just over £1 a dozen to £2 for free range organic. However, our neighbour has given us some free eggs from his chickens, saying he's got so many he's just giving them away.
A lot of other things have gone up in price, so it's a case of buying things when there's a good offer and storing them. One example is the brand of Muesli that Mrs.L likes. It had risen to £3 kg in ASDA and £3.30 in Tesco, but last week it was on offer at £2. Needless to say, we bought a few packets that will last a couple of months.
 
chic said:
I'm still able to eat well. Pineapple is something I haven't eaten in a long time now due to high prices but the store does have it occasionally. I have a salad every day and the price of the veggies is OK and the store is well stocked. Poultry is a lot higher but I still buy it and prepare cheaper longer lasting meals with it. The gasoline prices are what is hurting me. :confused:
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Fuel prices are hurting everyone unfortunately.. this isa lot of the reason for the enormous hike in food prices .
 
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Capt Lightning said:
I wonder what fuel prices are here - I'm going into town today so I'll see. On Tuesday, it was £1.57 / ltr. (£1 = $1.23)

Most vegetables are reasonably priced - and eggs are quite cheap. They range from just over £1 a dozen to £2 for free range organic. However, our neighbour has given us some free eggs from his chickens, saying he's got so many he's just giving them away.
A lot of other things have gone up in price, so it's a case of buying things when there's a good offer and storing them. One example is the brand of Muesli that Mrs.L likes. It had risen to £3 kg in ASDA and £3.30 in Tesco, but last week it was on offer at £2. Needless to say, we bought a few packets that will last a couple of months.
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It's irritating in the extreme that Scotlands' fuel prices, albeit high are still significantly lower than England..
 
That's a great idea in principle, but getting people to do anything in unison in this country is a lot easier said than done. I think we are all tired of being bent over from every direction, but those who have the means, are beholding to those with the money. The two parties will continue to blame each other, but they are all complicit in the demise of are economy due to there regulatory inaction.

Quote: I'm just wondering if there's a "boycott" on certain foods...that they "sit on the shelves"...would that "work" (help)to bring the prices down.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Fuel prices were up again today to 60.7p/ltr. It's getting to be that it cost more to drive to the shops than the cost of the groceries! It's vital that you don't forget anything - no more nipping to the shops for a pint of milk.

I see that the oil companies profits are also shooting up. I wonder if this connected to the price WE have to pay for fuel?
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Did you see Shell oil's profits? Makes me sick and angry while citizens are going hungry. :mad:
 
chic said:
Did you see Shell oil's profits? Makes me sick and angry while citizens are going hungry. :mad:
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Shell spends billions of dollars each year looking for oil, drilling for oil, distributing oil, refining oil and selling gasoline. Believe me, they wouldn't do that if they didn't think they were going to make a profit.

Shell made $20 billion on revenues of $260 billion. That's a 7.6% profit margin.

Apple made $95 billion on revenues of $378 billion, for a 25% profit margin.

Who's gouging whom?

Remember, these profits are either distributed to shareholders (creating wealth) or reinvested in the business (creating jobs).

That's the way capitalism works.

For an example of how a non-capitalistic society works, I would refer you to the Democratic Republic of North Korea.

By the way, the US Department of Education spends $75 billion per year. It educates no one and produces nothing, while citizens are going hungry.
 
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