POLITICS Inflation /General Finance Insanity

Personally, I think too many chain mergers. But I could be talking out of my ass and am just bitter at food costing me 50% more than it did just a few years ago.

 

Like 10 companies own a vast majority of food sales.

 

Recall the baby formula fiasco where we learned almost all infant formula is made in two facilities.

 

This a year old at minimum but you get the idea -

 

And how many of those are actually owned by Blackrock or some other PE firm?

 

Probably have stakes in all of them. Outright majority/plurality own? None that I am aware of.

 

When I was in Charlotte a month ago there were no Kroger’s but there was Harris Teeter, and I noticed the self checkout software looked the same as Kroger’s so I ran my Kroger ID and what do you know

 

Hell, I just guessed 10. And it [uck fay]ing is. Awful.

 

Yep. And there are multiple chains under some of the other grocery store umbrellas too. A lot less of them than it seems

 

I live over here. Harris Teeter is a local/regional brand over here. There are no Krogers over here (that I am aware of). It is my understanding that Kroger bought HT.

 

I’m not wild about it, but shouldn’t ten be enough competition to keep prices honest?

 

I’m bitter about it, too, but wonder how much of it is gouging and how much of it is just the way it is. I’m sure their overhead has gone way up. I know mine has.

 

Maybe, but for almost all brands to be from 10 companies, collusion is easy

 

Honestly, if there’s one thing we’ve figured out how to do right, it’s create inexpensive, calorically dense, easy to prepare food with a long shelf life.

Figuring how to make it not lead to obesity and insulin resistance would be nice.

 

I think it's a bit of everything. Overhead has gone up on basically everything. Salaries, benefits, insurance, utilities, shipping...etc but I believe some are still gouging a bit as well because they can.

 

I don't think so

 

Just now zoomed in and looked. Almost none of those foods should be regularly consumed by anyone.

 

Kind funny that the one food item P&G makes is Pringles, which only qualifies as food in the very loosest interpretation.

 

That is really just a map to diabetes, cancer or obesity.

 

https://www.marketwatch.com/amp/sto...out-half-of-what-wall-street-expects-62674940

Compared to Jamie Dimon I’m a Neanderthal, but I’m reasonably well versed and am very much a nerd when it comes to reading about this stuff and I see it the same way.

Simply put it’s hard to see a way out right now. Cutting rates any time soon would be disastrous, but we’re also hurtling towards a reality where not cutting rates would also be disastrous.