Supermarkets profited off pandemic and supply chain problems, FTC says [View all]
Source: Scripps News
Posted: 12:10 p.m. EDT Mar 25, 2024
As the pandemic wore on and supply chains started to become more strained, the nation's largest grocery store chains raised prices and became more profitable, a new report from the Federal Trade Commission suggests.
The FTC says that profits surged at the United States' largest chains even though Americans were dealing with soaring food costs and fewer choices. The FTC's report says the supermarket chains "used rising costs as an opportunity to further raise prices to increase their profits, which remain elevated today."
“As the pandemic illustrated, a major shock to the supply chain can have cascading effects on consumers, including the prices they pay for groceries,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “The FTC’s report examining U.S. grocery supply chains finds that dominant firms used this moment to come out ahead at the expense of their competitors and the communities they serve.”
The FTC noted that revenues increased to more than 6% over total costs in 2021 for major grocery chains. According to the consumer price index, food purchased for in-home consumption increased 7.4% in 2021. Food prices jumped again by 11% in 2022. From January 2021 through the end of 2022, food prices rose over 19.4%.
Read more: https://scrippsnews.com/stories/supermarkets-profited-off-pandemic-and-supply-chain-problems-ftc-says/
Link to FTC REPORT (PDF) - https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf
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