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The FTC findings show that the high prices were (and are) because of excessive profiteering by the grocery stores. It's not a mystery or a debate anymore. And

The FTC findings show that the high prices were (and are) because of excessive profiteering by the grocery stores. It's not a mystery or a debate anymore. And it is not "inflation", sticky or otherwise. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/03/ftc-releases-report-grocery-supply-chain-disruptions https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/03/... > Grocery retailer profits rose & remain elevated: Food and beverage retailer revenues increased to more than 6% over total costs in 2021, higher than their most recent peak in 2015 of 5.6%. In the first three-quarters of 2023, retailer profits rose even more, with revenue reaching 7% over total costs, casting doubt on the assertions of some companies that rising prices at the grocery store are the result of retailers’ own rising costs. Maybe some of you downvoters can provide some research studies that support your perception instead of just trying to bury the only hard evidence in this thread.

ConceptJunkie 3y ago
If that's true, it should be pretty straightforward to prove collusion.
snapcaster 3y ago
Why do they say "Food and beverage retailer revenues increased to more than 6% over total costs in 2021" instead of an accepted term like gross margins or net income or something I can go look up myself easily
benced 3y ago
Assuming those statistics are accurate - I'm a little suspicious that they're using non-GAAP metrics - it doesn't prove (or even define) "excessive".
- superkuh 3y ago
  Even if I take your premise the non-GAAP metrics don't count (we'll ignore the revenue aspects) and excessive is underdefined there is one solid take away: the megacorps like Nash Finch the like said that higher material costs drove their price increases. This is shown to be false (https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplych...). So they lied. Which group will you believe given that? The megacorps like Nash Finch or the FTC?
  - benced 3y ago
    That report does not show it to be false. Imagine if someone was selling a widget for $10 and their cost of materials is $8. Then, let's say their cost of materials increases to $10 and they raise their price to $13. Their gross profit margin has gone from 20% to 23% even as two thirds - the majority - of the price increase was driven by higher material costs.
- drewcoo 3y ago
  "Excessive" without further qualification is a qualitative assessment. It's how people feel: "too much!" It's not a quantitative assessment even though it's about numbers.
wmf 3y ago
Out of curiosity I found the Federal Reserve's official definition of inflation which is "A general, sustained upward movement of prices for goods and services in an economy." https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/glossary#sr_glossary%20index=I&sr_q=inflation&sr_e=0&sr_o=,Relevance https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/glossary#sr_glossary%20... This is interesting when applied to the early pandemic because you could argue that price increases were not general and in many cases they were not sustained either (e.g. sharp spikes in eggs and lumber were just as sharply reversed). In recent times it seems like we are seeing "true" inflation though.
benced 3y ago
I reassembled (using their original report: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplych...) the data they used to create those numbers here: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1lR3j https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1lR3j. I'm really not convinced we're seeing anything significant.

ConceptJunkie 3y ago

If that's true, it should be pretty straightforward to prove collusion.

snapcaster 3y ago

Why do they say "Food and beverage retailer revenues increased to more than 6% over total costs in 2021" instead of an accepted term like gross margins or net income or something I can go look up myself easily

benced 3y ago

Assuming those statistics are accurate - I'm a little suspicious that they're using non-GAAP metrics - it doesn't prove (or even define) "excessive".

superkuh 3y ago
Even if I take your premise the non-GAAP metrics don't count (we'll ignore the revenue aspects) and excessive is underdefined there is one solid take away: the megacorps like Nash Finch the like said that higher material costs drove their price increases. This is shown to be false (https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplych...). So they lied. Which group will you believe given that? The megacorps like Nash Finch or the FTC?
- benced 3y ago
  That report does not show it to be false. Imagine if someone was selling a widget for $10 and their cost of materials is $8. Then, let's say their cost of materials increases to $10 and they raise their price to $13. Their gross profit margin has gone from 20% to 23% even as two thirds - the majority - of the price increase was driven by higher material costs.
drewcoo 3y ago
"Excessive" without further qualification is a qualitative assessment. It's how people feel: "too much!" It's not a quantitative assessment even though it's about numbers.

wmf 3y ago

Out of curiosity I found the Federal Reserve's official definition of inflation which is "A general, sustained upward movement of prices for goods and services in an economy." https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/glossary#sr_glossary%20index=I&sr_q=inflation&sr_e=0&sr_o=,Relevance https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/glossary#sr_glossary%20... This is interesting when applied to the early pandemic because you could argue that price increases were not general and in many cases they were not sustained either (e.g. sharp spikes in eggs and lumber were just as sharply reversed). In recent times it seems like we are seeing "true" inflation though.

benced 3y ago

I reassembled (using their original report: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplych...) the data they used to create those numbers here: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1lR3j https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1lR3j. I'm really not convinced we're seeing anything significant.