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I was reading an article last night titled "Food Makers Pitch Specials Again," in the Wall Street Journal. The summary was that for the first time since the pandemic, sales of food on promotion pricing has reached and exceeded a pre-pandemic level. According to the survey quoted, total units of grocery purchases are down this year vs last year by 2%, while the number of items bought on promotion is up 6%.
Reading between the lines, there are several factors driving this.
1) Prices on grocery are up 33% since 2019.
2) Consumers are trying to stay on budget and get more bang for their buck.
The article talked a bit about restaurants, too. That the average fast food restaurant prices are up 40% and consumers are starting to eat out less. The article pointed out that corporate restaurants are trying to keep the seats full by offering value items.
The price of food is a hot topic with the small farmers. I'm kind of an outcast in that I'm looking to keep prices low. When someone hears "local" or "organic" the first association is often "expensive." This isn't true. As you saw with the summer share, many of you probably struggled to eat everything each week.
As small producers and marketers, we have to be concerned that the customer is going to look at their food budget and trade us in for cheap, commodity food. My argument to other growers is that we should look at this as a this time to build market share, and to only raise prices as needed to cover additional costs. It is more economical to eat whole foods, so if we can get them to the dinner table at a reasonable price, the market of folks eating this lifestyle should grow.
I also get the macro level questions, like "Where are food prices going?" I think the answer to that is up to each of us. If we can keep the government out of it and let the markets correct, we'll see a few options. 1) Consumers may settle for higher prices, or 2) They will find alternatives, such as scratch cooking, buying from the local farmer, or growing their own.
I share all this to say Thank You for Choosing the Alternative - Good Food. And thank you for riding the roller coaster that is the local growing season.
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