{"id":122968,"date":"2021-11-15T16:28:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T16:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=122968"},"modified":"2021-11-15T16:28:24","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T16:28:24","slug":"how-grocery-stores-are-handling-rising-food-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/how-grocery-stores-are-handling-rising-food-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"How grocery stores are handling rising food prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nicholas Bertram is president of The Giant Company, a grocer known to customers as Giant, Martin’s, Giant Heirloom Market, Giant Direct and Martin’s Direct, with locations across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. <\/q><\/p>\n

Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been intense scrutiny on the grocery industry, as historic demand and a stretched supply chain have led to rising food prices and shortages of certain products. In fact, food prices are at their highest levels in a decade \u2014 not ideal news less than two weeks out from one of the most food-centric holidays of the year.<\/p>\n

For The Giant Company, our cost inflation has accelerated during the past five months and is around 4% \u2014 more than triple the 2020 rate of 1.2%. Hopefully the inflation rate has peaked, but there does not appear to be any real deflation on the horizon. Most of the factors driving price increases are beyond our control \u2014 like ongoing labor shortages, limited availability of raw ingredients, freight and packaging constraints, and unpredictable weather events. The more it costs to make an item and get it to its final destination, the higher the price goes. <\/p>\n