Full screen recommended.
"As Hoarding Intensifies,
Food Prices Will Shoot Up In The Months Ahead"
by Epic Economist
"Food prices are about to shoot up even higher in the next 60 days, according to industry executives who run the nation’s food supply chain. Of course, food prices always fluctuate, but what Americans are about to see at the stores in the next couple of months is going to be quite shocking, they say. Thanks to endless supply chain issues, an ongoing bird flu outbreak, transportation delays, and a growing consumer demand, aggressive price increases are being announced as our grocery stores continue to have a tough time staying stocked. Meanwhile, shoppers continue to worry about shortages, and they seem more motivated to stock up on essentials before the situation worsens. Even after two years into the pandemic, stockpiling food is a trend that has never disappeared, but there are accusations that some people are actually “hoarding”. However, analysts say grocers haven’t seen the worst of this wave just yet.
In its latest update to its Food Price Outlook Report, the USDA found that all food categories are expected to go up in price next month. And yes, those increases will come that's on top of the price hike consumers have already been forced to endure over the past 12 months. "All food prices are now predicted to increase between 4.5 and 5.5%," the USDA's Economic Research Service explained in its forecast report for October.
But according to the food industry executive and billionaire supermarket owner, John Catsimatidis, the outlook for the next 60 days is even more disturbing. During a recent interview, the expert said that overall food prices are going to hit the double-digit mark. “I see over 10 percent price increase in the next 60 days,” he told Fox Business, adding that the trend will not drop “anytime soon.” Catsimatidis cited rising inflation and supply chain bottlenecks that are currently plaguing supermarkets and other retailers across the nation.
A 10 percent increase in a span of just 60 days would put the U.S. food inflation rate at an overwhelming 60 percent on an annual basis. Although Catsimatidis’s projection seems pretty extreme, he is one of the top executives of the nation’s food supply chain and he is in a position to know the trends, that’s why we should all take his ominous warning very seriously.
Meanwhile, another industry executive that was interviewed by Bloomberg said that right now he’s seeing people rush to stockpile everything from canned goods to boxed items and even making a run on milk when it’s available in grocery stores. “People are hoarding,” said CEO and founder of Saffron Road Adnan Durrani. “What I think you’ll see over the next six months, all prices will go higher.”
The change in consumer behavior has also been registered by the U.S. Census Department, which recently reported that the combined spending on food supplies reached an all-time high of $139.2 billion this month, a sizable 25.7% increase compared to a year prior. At the moment, several parts of the US are still battling food shortages while worried Americans continue to empty supermarket shelves. The CEO of Albertsons, Vivek Sankara, revealed that customers should expect they are going to have “something missing in our stores” on “any given day.” “I never imagined that we’d be here still talking about supply-chain problems, but it’s a reality,” Sankaran said.
The near-term forecasts seem too crazy to believe, but it would be even crazier to ignore them. The truth is that people are finally waking up to the fact that our systems are falling in thousands of different ways all around us. As the winter approaches, store shelves are just going to continue to get barer. Even the federal is admitting that things will get worse before they get better. But will they get better? Ever?"
No comments:
Post a Comment