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The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

economist.com

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Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#61

Post by ed25519FUUU »

fy20 wrote: post #53
ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.

Do you have problems with the smell and poop? We have a medium sized backyard, and I would like to get chickens by my wife isn't sure about the smell and poop ending up everywhere (we have a 3yo). Are there other birds that are better than chickens in this regard?

We do deep littering and I don’t notice any smell unless I stick my head into the coop to clean it.

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#62

Post by nobodyandproud »

msrenee wrote: post #34
nobodyandproud wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article also mentions: - Inflation, which can’t explain the price rise; as beef and chicken (meat) did not increase at the same rate. - Excess profits earned compared to earlier quarters; also difficult to explain if the company in question faced a massive loss. How is this not relevant?

Where in the article does it mention chicken meat? I see pork, beef, and prepared foods. Excess profits can be caused by any number of things. If the price of the eggs increased exactly enough to match inflation and loss from avian influenza, but there was also increased efficiency from new processing techniques and equipment, that's profit. If they managed to pay their workers even less than they pay in a normal yea…

Sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

> If the price of the eggs increased exactly enough to match inflation and loss from avian influenza, but there was also increased efficiency from new processing techniques and equipment, that's profit

What-if speculation with zero evidence—what new technology?—-is what I would call low quality.

The article at least uses industry players and other related industries to underscore their point. Which is that an investigation may be coming and is warranted.

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#63

Post by angoragoats »

brianjking wrote: post #59
angoragoats wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that monopolies are bad, but the grandparent listed 7 stores, and all are owned by different companies. I am similarly in an area where I can count at least 12 different grocery store parent companies, two of which are local and not in the big list in your first link. Maybe the monopolization is only happening in certain areas?

It's about what impacts the majority of the people and what impact it will have to price.

Yeah I get those are the concerns. I guess I’m trying to find evidence that will impact the “majority of the people.” One article [1] mentions that the combined company would still have less grocery market share than Walmart (which has just over 1/5th of the market), and the pie charts shown for some sample markets still don’t look anything like a monopoly situation to me.

[1] https://www.grocerydive.com/news/how-the-kroger-albertsons-m...

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#64

Post by brianjking »

angoragoats wrote: post #63
brianjking wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's about what impacts the majority of the people and what impact it will have to price.

Yeah I get those are the concerns. I guess I’m trying to find evidence that will impact the “majority of the people.” One article [1] mentions that the combined company would still have less grocery market share than Walmart (which has just over 1/5th of the market), and the pie charts shown for some sample markets still don’t look anything like a monopoly situation to me. [1] https://www.grocerydive.com/news/how-the…

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/supermarket-supermerge...

https://www.vox.com/money/23641875/food-grocery-inflation-pr...

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#65

Post by angoragoats »

brianjking wrote: post #64
angoragoats wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I get those are the concerns. I guess I’m trying to find evidence that will impact the “majority of the people.” One article [1] mentions that the combined company would still have less grocery market share than Walmart (which has just over 1/5th of the market), and the pie charts shown for some sample markets still don’t look anything like a monopoly situation to me. [1] https://www.grocerydive.com/news/how-the…

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/supermarket-supermerge... https://www.vox.com/money/23641875/food-grocery-inflation-pr...

Yes, but these don’t actually address the points I mentioned. Your stance has migrated from “majority of people” to “monopolies are bad” (not that I disagree with that point)!

Thank you for the links though.

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#66

Post by brianjking »

angoragoats wrote: post #65
brianjking wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/supermarket-supermerge... https://www.vox.com/money/23641875/food-grocery-inflation-pr...

Yes, but these don’t actually address the points I mentioned. Your stance has migrated from “majority of people” to “monopolies are bad” (not that I disagree with that point)! Thank you for the links though.

I've actually been trying to find the source about the percentage of people and may be misremembering the specifics, tbh. Listen to the podcast link I provided, it might be there. This will no doubt disproportionately impact people in rural areas and people already impacted by food deserts.

For example, I live within a few minutes drive of a QFC (Kroger) and an Albertsons, and a Safeway. If they merge, there will be 0 competition outside of a Walmart and you know how that goes...

If you get into who owns the products we consume it's even worse, this is a study that looks at a bit of both the distribution at grocery stores as well as who owns and manufacturers the food products we consume: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11...

It's...not great.

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#67

Post by eternityforest »

There's a lot of processed food that uses eggs. Most of it tastes like sawdust and sugar anyway. I highly doubt the eggs and milk are necessary. Perhaps they would be cheaper if we stopped using them for stuff that doesn't need them.

But then again, I don't even remember the last time I bought eggs so I'm not exactly the best informed.

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