Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
FOOD FRAUD: Robert Reich – Think Grocery Prices Are High Now?, Just Wait…
SM
Source – robertreich.org
Think your grocery bill is high now? Just wait.
A massive corporate merger could send [url=https://href.li/?https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/business/grocery-prices/index.html#:~:text=In the year through November%2C food got 10.6% more expensive%2C with grocery prices rising 12% and menu prices jumping 8.5%%2C not adjusted for seasonal swings%2C the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. In that same period%2C overall inflation rose 7.1%.]skyrocketing[/url] food prices through the stratosphere, unless the government sees the deal for what it is — a rotten egg.
Supermarket giant Kroger is in the process of finalizing a nearly $25 billion deal to acquire its jumbo-sized competitor Albertsons, combining their [url=https://href.li/?https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/14/kroger-agrees-to-buy-albertsons-for-24point6-billion.html#:~:text=and Tom Thumb.-,Combined%2C Kroger and Albertsons employ more than 700%2C000 people across about 5%2C000 stores.,-Kroger captured about]5,000 supermarkets[/url] into one mega company.
Corporate concentration in the grocery market is already a huge problem, with estimates showing that [url=https://href.li/?https://prospect.org/power/proposed-kroger-albertsons-merger-would-create-grocery-giant/#:~:text=Amazon%2C Walmart%2C Kroger%2C Albertsons%2C and Ahold Delhaize (a Dutch grocer that owns several brands like Giant%2C Food Lion%2C and Stop %26 Shop).]just five companies[/url] control over 60 percent of American grocery sales
This means less consumer choice, and more opportunity for grocery stores to jack up prices — which they’ve already been doing lately under the cover of inflation. Let’s be clear: Big corporations are using the excuse of inflation to pass price increases through to you.
Now you may think this merger won’t affect you because you don’t have a Kroger or Albertsons where you live, but here’s the kicker: Both stores already control [url=https://href.li/?https://prospect.org/power/proposed-kroger-albertsons-merger-would-create-grocery-giant/#:~:text=Kroger brands include Ralphs%2C Dillons%2C Food 4 Less%2C Fred Meyer%2C Harris Teeter%2C King Soopers%2C Mariano%E2%80%99s%2C and several more. Albertsons%2C boosted by a 2015 merger with Safeway (more on that later)%2C has that chain in its stable%2C along with Acme%2C Haggen%2C Jewel%2DOsco%2C Shaw%E2%80%99s%2C Pavilions%2C Vons%2C and many more.]dozens[/url] of other grocery brands across the country. So you may not even know you’re actually shopping at Kroger or Albertsons.
All told, this deal could affect grocery stores relied on by [url=https://href.li/?https://ir.kroger.com/CorporateProfile/press-releases/press-release/2022/Kroger-and-Albertsons-Companies-Announce-Definitive-Merger-Agreement/default.aspx#:~:text=Through a family of well%2Dknown and trusted supermarket banners%2C this combination will expand customer reach and improve proximity to deliver fresh and affordable food to approximately 85 million households with a premier omnichannel experience.]85 million households[/url].
(Above Image Added By SM)
What’s to stop this new goliath from continually raising prices if customers have nowhere else to shop? With grocery bills already going through the roof, Kroger buying Albertsons gets rid of the roof altogether.
A Kroger-owned mega company can also get away with paying workers even less than it already does — because fewer competitors means grocery workers have fewer choices of whom to work for.
According to one survey, 75% of Kroger workers were food insecure and 14% have experienced homelessness. One out of every five Kroger workers has relied on government aid to survive.This is no secret to Kroger execs either. Recently leaked internal documents reveal that the company has known about the plight of its workers for years.
This is the story of monopolization, folks. Corporate consolidation is bad news for everyone except the super-rich. It’s awful for consumers, workers, and the economy as a whole — and it’s driving the most extreme wealth imbalance in over a century.
But the good news is that this Kroger-Albertsons deal is far from being fully baked. The Federal Trade Commission has the power to intervene and stop it. Several labor unions, produce growers, antitrust experts, and state Attorneys General are already urging the FTC to block it.
We can’t afford to let another supermarket giant gobble up an even bigger piece of the American pie.
THANKS TO: https://rielpolitik.com/2023/03/16/food-fraud-robert-reich-think-grocery-prices-are-high-now-just-wait/
SM
Source – robertreich.org
- “…A massive corporate merger could send [url=https://href.li/?https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/business/grocery-prices/index.html#:~:text=In the year through November%2C food got 10.6% more expensive%2C with grocery prices rising 12% and menu prices jumping 8.5%%2C not adjusted for seasonal swings%2C the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. In that same period%2C overall inflation rose 7.1%.]skyrocketing[/url] food prices through the stratosphere, unless the government sees the deal for what it is — a rotten egg. …This is the story of monopolization, folks. Corporate consolidation is bad news for everyone except the super-rich. It’s awful for consumers, workers, and the economy as a whole — and it’s driving the most extreme wealth imbalance in over a century….We can’t afford to let another supermarket giant gobble up an even bigger piece of the American pie”
Think Grocery Prices Are High Now? Just Wait.
Think your grocery bill is high now? Just wait.
A massive corporate merger could send [url=https://href.li/?https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/business/grocery-prices/index.html#:~:text=In the year through November%2C food got 10.6% more expensive%2C with grocery prices rising 12% and menu prices jumping 8.5%%2C not adjusted for seasonal swings%2C the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Tuesday. In that same period%2C overall inflation rose 7.1%.]skyrocketing[/url] food prices through the stratosphere, unless the government sees the deal for what it is — a rotten egg.
Supermarket giant Kroger is in the process of finalizing a nearly $25 billion deal to acquire its jumbo-sized competitor Albertsons, combining their [url=https://href.li/?https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/14/kroger-agrees-to-buy-albertsons-for-24point6-billion.html#:~:text=and Tom Thumb.-,Combined%2C Kroger and Albertsons employ more than 700%2C000 people across about 5%2C000 stores.,-Kroger captured about]5,000 supermarkets[/url] into one mega company.
Corporate concentration in the grocery market is already a huge problem, with estimates showing that [url=https://href.li/?https://prospect.org/power/proposed-kroger-albertsons-merger-would-create-grocery-giant/#:~:text=Amazon%2C Walmart%2C Kroger%2C Albertsons%2C and Ahold Delhaize (a Dutch grocer that owns several brands like Giant%2C Food Lion%2C and Stop %26 Shop).]just five companies[/url] control over 60 percent of American grocery sales
This means less consumer choice, and more opportunity for grocery stores to jack up prices — which they’ve already been doing lately under the cover of inflation. Let’s be clear: Big corporations are using the excuse of inflation to pass price increases through to you.
Now you may think this merger won’t affect you because you don’t have a Kroger or Albertsons where you live, but here’s the kicker: Both stores already control [url=https://href.li/?https://prospect.org/power/proposed-kroger-albertsons-merger-would-create-grocery-giant/#:~:text=Kroger brands include Ralphs%2C Dillons%2C Food 4 Less%2C Fred Meyer%2C Harris Teeter%2C King Soopers%2C Mariano%E2%80%99s%2C and several more. Albertsons%2C boosted by a 2015 merger with Safeway (more on that later)%2C has that chain in its stable%2C along with Acme%2C Haggen%2C Jewel%2DOsco%2C Shaw%E2%80%99s%2C Pavilions%2C Vons%2C and many more.]dozens[/url] of other grocery brands across the country. So you may not even know you’re actually shopping at Kroger or Albertsons.
All told, this deal could affect grocery stores relied on by [url=https://href.li/?https://ir.kroger.com/CorporateProfile/press-releases/press-release/2022/Kroger-and-Albertsons-Companies-Announce-Definitive-Merger-Agreement/default.aspx#:~:text=Through a family of well%2Dknown and trusted supermarket banners%2C this combination will expand customer reach and improve proximity to deliver fresh and affordable food to approximately 85 million households with a premier omnichannel experience.]85 million households[/url].
(Above Image Added By SM)
What’s to stop this new goliath from continually raising prices if customers have nowhere else to shop? With grocery bills already going through the roof, Kroger buying Albertsons gets rid of the roof altogether.
A Kroger-owned mega company can also get away with paying workers even less than it already does — because fewer competitors means grocery workers have fewer choices of whom to work for.
According to one survey, 75% of Kroger workers were food insecure and 14% have experienced homelessness. One out of every five Kroger workers has relied on government aid to survive.This is no secret to Kroger execs either. Recently leaked internal documents reveal that the company has known about the plight of its workers for years.
This is the story of monopolization, folks. Corporate consolidation is bad news for everyone except the super-rich. It’s awful for consumers, workers, and the economy as a whole — and it’s driving the most extreme wealth imbalance in over a century.
But the good news is that this Kroger-Albertsons deal is far from being fully baked. The Federal Trade Commission has the power to intervene and stop it. Several labor unions, produce growers, antitrust experts, and state Attorneys General are already urging the FTC to block it.
We can’t afford to let another supermarket giant gobble up an even bigger piece of the American pie.
THANKS TO: https://rielpolitik.com/2023/03/16/food-fraud-robert-reich-think-grocery-prices-are-high-now-just-wait/
