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I think the UK was doomed inside or outside Europe. Not quite sure why, but their relative productivity per worker has been dropping since 2007 compared to all other developed nations. [1] With low productivity, it doesn't matter if you have sweet trade deals - you're still going to decline eventually. [1]: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47826195.amp
Demand for food is inelastic, so it makes sense that companies are raising prices as high as possible since people still have to eat. Generally this leads to price competition from other food brands, but when single companies own dozens/hundreds of food brands it’s easy to act like a cartel and keep prices high.
If it owns all brands and they raise the price, then start your own food company offering lower prices, you will turn up the market to you like from day to nite.
Demand for food is inelastic, so it makes sense that companies are raising prices as high as possible since people still have to eat. Generally this leads to price competition from other food brands, but when single companies own dozens/hundreds of food brands it’s easy to act like a cartel and keep prices high.
Couscous and margarine and eggs being more expensive across the board at the supplier level. This does not speak to any sort of cartel behavior.
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For some reason they didn't want to cash in before?
Consumers notice price changes. So you don't want to adjust prices unless most of your competitors are also doing so. Therefore you can see prices fixed for years, and then suddenly a sudden flurry of lots of manufacturers all raising prices 50%.
There cannot be anyway Arizona Ice Tea is making the same profit today on their .99 cans that they were in 1992.
And at some point that has to break unless they become a charity subsidizing aluminum-clad tea.
When "the break" happens they almost always overshoot; it's easier to offer a 'discount' later if necessary.
Demand for food is inelastic, so it makes sense that companies are raising prices as high as possible since people still have to eat. Generally this leads to price competition from other food brands, but when single companies own dozens/hundreds of food brands it’s easy to act like a cartel and keep prices high.
If wholesale food costs have gone up and they're simply passing that on then they may not be making any more money. Here's wholesale food prices in the US: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WPU578101 In fact you'd expect reduced sales from the higher prices to put pressure on profits. That is what seems to be happening in the UK: https://www.grocerygazette.co.uk/2023/01/31/food-companies-p... But not in the US, wher…
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Brexit plus war.
Brexit plus sanctions. War has nothing to do with that, at least not war in a classical sense. Economic or total war that some countries are involved in can be considered as a major reason.
And Ukraine's hesitance/inability to strike war-relevant civilian targets in Russia (say, bridges and factories) more than very-sporadically makes the term a bit iffy even for them. Hell, even Russia's been more restrained than what the term usually suggests, as far as the brutality of attacks, if only barely.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_war
It basically means "complete mobilization of a state & society toward a war effort, coupled with a willingness to engage any target regarded as having any war relevance whatsoever, no matter where or what the target is". Hallmarks are mass conscription, rationing, large-scale conversion of civilian production capacity to making war materiel, and leveling cities on purpose (not just as a side-effect of fighting over them).
Meanwhile in Sweden the CEO of ICA, the largest supermarket chain in the country (53% of the market) said yesterday: "It is actually the consumer who controls what they are prepared to pay for a product. In the end, it is they who decide." https://omni.se/icas-vd-det-ar-kunderna-som-avgor-matpriset/...
In an ironic way, the consumers decided to leave the EU and expose the UK to higher inflation. Though much of the world has been seeing severe inflation at this time, it would have probably been better if the UK had access to a broader food market.
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Not really, the biggest factor is how supermarkets source their produce in the UK.
Uh, how does one source produce except through imports? A weak Pound will make it more expensive. Even for things that can be domestically produced, like greenhouse tomatoes, they will still be more expensive even if they are now competitive with imports. And for items like rice and couscous you're not really going to be able to domestically produce them anyway.
Not related but The price of poultry has gone up significantly in the GTA, and a friend who works for the government informed me that there is an outbreak of bird flu in Ontario that's affecting poultry farms. Unfortunately, farmers can't talk about it due to ag-gag laws.