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UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

grocerygazette.co.uk

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Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#491
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are nominal profits, everyone is trying to take "an extra cut" to stay ahead of inflation. Grocery has razor thin margins to begin with and the usual direction of prices is downward. Inflation will absolutely put a grocer out of business if they can't stay ahead of rising prices.

Wholesale margins are razor thin, but retail ones are relatively fat. (I work in Wholesale/Retail software).

Unit margins, or operating margins?

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#492
post #167

As a person living in the UK, I have definitely noticed a considerable rise in unit prices. One of many examples is that a loaf of my favourite bread increased from £3 to £4 recently, which was a shocker. Toilet roll prices, as ever what the news loves to talk about, has exploded, increasing by around 70% since 2020 by my anecdotal observation. A sad thought I have about inflation is the fact that it is, wittingly or…

The lower class does suffer the most, but unfortunately it is the policies intended to help them which actually cause most of the problem. By giving money to people without producing more stuff - or even making it harder to produce the same - you MUST have inflation, rationing, or empty shelves - and often all three. The solution to allowing lower classes to have more stuff is to make it easier for everybody to produ…

https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ shows that producing more stuff per person since 1978 hasn't fixed inflation (not graphed there), and we can afford less of it because real wages haven't kept up.

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#493
post #459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you've never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you??

This was a reference to some politician (I don't recall which) not knowing the price of a single banana.

It's from Arrested Development.

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#494
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

All well and good except for the fact that these companies have gone on the record in their earning calls to say this is just them squeezing the end consumer as much as they can. But go ahead and makeup some false justification to defend them against the truth of their own words.

If you believe that, are you investing in food company stocks?

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are talking like inflation is some conspiracy wielded by “the rich” (who are they? Are they all friends with each other and plan all their schemes together?) against the “others”. Fact is the inflation we are seeing here is caused by the after effects of Covid, the Energy price surges caused by the Ukraine war and in the special case of UK - Brexit, which has lead to huge import shortages due to increased bureauc…

It is called "Greedflation". To say it is a conspiracy is true, in that corporations are conspiring against consumers to make more profit. Some articles: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/24/greedflatio... https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/24/greedflation-food-brands-may... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/12/global-gree... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/02/ecb-looking...

Corporations were never greedy until the last few years, I take it?

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#496
Anyone who watched Clarkson's Farms would get the impression that overburdensome government regulations on farming have contributed tremendously to increase food costs in the UK. Clarkson himself during the series mentions that Brexit has had an impact too.

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#497
post #167

As a person living in the UK, I have definitely noticed a considerable rise in unit prices. One of many examples is that a loaf of my favourite bread increased from £3 to £4 recently, which was a shocker. Toilet roll prices, as ever what the news loves to talk about, has exploded, increasing by around 70% since 2020 by my anecdotal observation. A sad thought I have about inflation is the fact that it is, wittingly or…

The lower class does suffer the most, but unfortunately it is the policies intended to help them which actually cause most of the problem. By giving money to people without producing more stuff - or even making it harder to produce the same - you MUST have inflation, rationing, or empty shelves - and often all three. The solution to allowing lower classes to have more stuff is to make it easier for everybody to produ…

>By giving money to people without producing more stuff - or even making it harder to produce the same - you MUST have inflation, rationing, or empty shelves - and often all three.

Says who? Why can't the people producing stuff simply take lower profit margins instead?

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#498
post #167

As a person living in the UK, I have definitely noticed a considerable rise in unit prices. One of many examples is that a loaf of my favourite bread increased from £3 to £4 recently, which was a shocker. Toilet roll prices, as ever what the news loves to talk about, has exploded, increasing by around 70% since 2020 by my anecdotal observation. A sad thought I have about inflation is the fact that it is, wittingly or…

You are talking like inflation is some conspiracy wielded by “the rich” (who are they? Are they all friends with each other and plan all their schemes together?) against the “others”. Fact is the inflation we are seeing here is caused by the after effects of Covid, the Energy price surges caused by the Ukraine war and in the special case of UK - Brexit, which has lead to huge import shortages due to increased bureauc…

It doesnt matter what you think. Poor people that loose money without possibility to do anything about it = angry people. That is a big problem. We know from history the consequence of terrible inflation in 30's in Germany.

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#499
post #167

As a person living in the UK, I have definitely noticed a considerable rise in unit prices. One of many examples is that a loaf of my favourite bread increased from £3 to £4 recently, which was a shocker. Toilet roll prices, as ever what the news loves to talk about, has exploded, increasing by around 70% since 2020 by my anecdotal observation. A sad thought I have about inflation is the fact that it is, wittingly or…

It is said that inflation (caused by money printing at least) is a hidden tax on everyone, which definitely hits the poor more than a progressive tax scheme would.

Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years

#500
post #167

As a person living in the UK, I have definitely noticed a considerable rise in unit prices. One of many examples is that a loaf of my favourite bread increased from £3 to £4 recently, which was a shocker. Toilet roll prices, as ever what the news loves to talk about, has exploded, increasing by around 70% since 2020 by my anecdotal observation. A sad thought I have about inflation is the fact that it is, wittingly or…

The lower class does suffer the most, but unfortunately it is the policies intended to help them which actually cause most of the problem. By giving money to people without producing more stuff - or even making it harder to produce the same - you MUST have inflation, rationing, or empty shelves - and often all three. The solution to allowing lower classes to have more stuff is to make it easier for everybody to produ…

Why so convoluted.

Just tax the rich (companies) properly. The resources and money is available. The current government chooses not to allocate it properly.

What is happening in the UK is to me 100% the result of the current Conservative Party and their policies.

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