Higher Food Prices Bring Bigger Profits, but Consumers Start to Resist
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And food inflation has been abating. In March, food prices were flat compared with the month before, according to the Consumer Price Index, and prices for food at home fell 0.3 percent. But prices at restaurants continued to go up, rising 0.6 percent from February.
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Still, some customers are changing their buying habits. Kylie Park, 31, used to buy three or four boxes of Pop-Tarts Bites for her son on trips to her local Safeway in Oahu, Hawaii. But the treats have become more expensive, so she often buys just one package at a time. She also stopped buying as much juice, she said, and has been skipping her trips to Costco for bulk goods.
“Before, I would overbuy; I realized I don’t need all of that,” said Ms. Park, who works as a part-time aesthetician and content creator. “I don’t think I would go back.”
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She added that she had mostly just paid the higher prices on staples, allocating more of her budget to groceries. “Everything I buy is normally everything we eat,” she said.
Other consumers are opting to buy cheaper generic products. When companies raise prices too much, consumers seek alternatives, Ms. Kodali said. “You basically introduced a bunch of people who were your audience to your competitors,” she said. “What you end up seeing is a trade-off.”
Dianna Anderson’s attitude toward cereal brands used to be: “If I can’t get the name brand, I won’t get it.” But when inflation started eroding their breakfast budget, Mx. Anderson, 37, who uses they/them pronouns, started buying generic cereal at Target.
“I would probably stick with the Target brand,” said Mx. Anderson, a writer who works at a nonprofit organization in Minneapolis. “It’s a decent product, and it’s cheaper.”
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And food inflation has been abating. In March, food prices were flat compared with the month before, according to the Consumer Price Index, and prices for food at home fell 0.3 percent. But prices at restaurants continued to go up, rising 0.6 percent from February.
Still, some customers are changing their buying habits. Kylie Park, 31, used to buy three or four boxes of Pop-Tarts Bites for her son on trips to her local Safeway in Oahu, Hawaii. But the treats have become more expensive, so she often buys just one package at a time. She also stopped buying as much juice, she said, and has been skipping her trips to Costco for bulk goods.
“Before, I would overbuy; I realized I don’t need all of that,” said Ms. Park, who works as a part-time aesthetician and content creator. “I don’t think I would go back.”
She added that she had mostly just paid the higher prices on staples, allocating more of her budget to groceries. “Everything I buy is normally everything we eat,” she said.
Other consumers are opting to buy cheaper generic products. When companies raise prices too much, consumers seek alternatives, Ms. Kodali said. “You basically introduced a bunch of people who were your audience to your competitors,” she said. “What you end up seeing is a trade-off.”
Dianna Anderson’s attitude toward cereal brands used to be: “If I can’t get the name brand, I won’t get it.” But when inflation started eroding their breakfast budget, Mx. Anderson, 37, who uses they/them pronouns, started buying generic cereal at Target.
“I would probably stick with the Target brand,” said Mx. Anderson, a writer who works at a nonprofit organization in Minneapolis. “It’s a decent product, and it’s cheaper.”
