President Donald Trump won re-election last year by promising to end inflation "on Day One," but 268 days into his second term grocery customers are swearing off some choices as too expensive.
Mario Bedolla has worked four decades at North Pulaski Fresh Market in Chicago, and he estimates that prices have risen about 20 percent this year, and he told the Wall Street Journal that his customers are furious.
“They’ll come in and say, ‘What the f---,’” Bedolla said. “It happens all the time.”
The government shut down has postponed the release until at least next week of the Labor Department's inflation data from September, but the August inflation report showed grocery prices were ticking upward – although not quite to the same pandemic-fueled rate as 2022.
"Over the 12 months ended in August, the price of coffee increased 20.9 percent, Labor Department data showed; ground beef was up 12.8 percent, and bananas rose 6.6 percent," the Journal reported. "Dairy, fruits and vegetables and cereals have all become pricier."
"Ground-roast coffee in August hit $8.87 a pound on average, jumping nearly $1 since May," the report added. "Ground-beef prices added about 30 cents over that period, rising to a record $6.32 a pound, and steaks were up by more than $1 a pound."
Rising commodity prices are driving some of that upward tilt, but Trump's tariffs have also raised the price of imported good like olive oil, bananas and shrimp, and while food companies have absorbed some of those costs, others have been passed on to consumers.
“I’m a miser right now when it comes to what I’m spending at supermarkets,” said Steve Smith, a former police officer from Colorado. “You get creative with what you’re cooking.”
The 65-year-old Smith has swapped out salmon for shrimp and ground beef for ribeyes, and he's considered taking up hunting again for the first time in three decades to supplement his diet with deer and elk, and shoppers in other parts of the country share his concerns about soaring costs.
“It feels terrible,” said Kelvin Lin, a 33-year software engineer who lives in New York City.
Susan Morris, CEO of Albertsons supermarkets, said Tuesday on an earnings call that shoppers were opting for smaller package sizes and using more coupons, and she added that the company was trying to help by cutting costs on some items.
“We see them sticking closer to their shopping list, maybe not buying that extra item, that extra bottle of whatever,” Morris said.