In the News

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Kroger’s CFO Moves to Costco; High Food Prices Sound Alarm Bells

Readers were interested in Groundwork Collaborative’s new report, “What’s Driving the Rise in Grocery Prices – and What the Government Can Do About It,” that claims to identify the underlying causes of recent grocery price inflation, including corporate profiteering, supply chain shocks and climate change.

February 9, 2024 Progressive Grocer

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Report: ‘Greedflation’ primary driver of higher consumer prices

As corporate profits remain at all-time highs, a new report shows that more than half of rising consumer prices in 2023 were caused by corporate greed, or "greedflation." Elizabeth Pancotti - strategic advisor with the DC-based think tank Groundwork Collaborative - said before the pandemic, corporate profits drove just 11% of price growth.

February 8, 2024 Public News Service

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Families paying 25% more for groceries since pre-pandemic times: report

"The inputs to making this food for producers has gone down pretty significantly and yet those companies are not passing those savings off to consumers," explained Groundwork Collaborative Strategic Advisor Elizabeth Pancotti. "They’re not hiking sticker prices by very much, but they’re keeping them high even as their costs come down."

February 7, 2024 Fox 5 DC

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Your Super Bowl nachos will be more expensive this year thanks to soaring prices for chips and queso blanco

Grocery prices are now 25% higher than they were before the pandemic, according to inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is due to a number of factors including climate change, supply-chain disruptions stemming from the war in Ukraine, and “corporate profiteering,” the Groundwork Collaborative said.

February 7, 2024 MarketWatch

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Why Your Groceries Are Still So Expensive

And the record profits Professor Weber mentions? Groundwork Collaborative recently found that corporate profits accounted for 53% of 2023 inflation. EPI likewise concluded that over 51% of the drastically higher inflationary pressures of 2020 and 2021 were also direct results of profits. The Kansas City Federal Reserve even pegged this around 40%, indicating that sellers’ inflation is now a pretty mainstream idea.

February 7, 2024 Forbes

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Shoppers on Constant Lookout for Grocery Deals

President Biden recently put pressure on grocers to lower prices, accusing stores of reaping excess profits and scamming shoppers. His comments came amid Groundwork Collaborative's new report that placed blame on corporate profiteering as one of the underlying causes of grocery price inflation.

February 7, 2024 Progressive Grocer

Press Release

ICYMI: New Groundwork Report Explains Why Groceries Are Still So Expensive

As covered by The New York Times and Washington Post, this new report finds that families are now paying 25 percent more for groceries than they were before the pandemic, outpacing overall inflation. The report offers policy recommendations to address the high cost of groceries and reduce the risk of future price spikes, building on the steps the Biden administration has already taken to offset these price increases.

February 6, 2024 Groundwork Collaborative

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Grocery Prices, But Not Restaurant Meals, Predicted Lower in 2024

The left-leaning think tank, the Groundwork Collaborative, said nearly a third of the rise in grocery prices can be blamed on beef, chicken, fruits, vegetables and snacks – all particularly vulnerable to supply chain issues, The Washington Post reported on Friday. Labor shortages, supply chain issues, drought, avian influenza and other factors, including industry consolidation, affect food prices, the report noted.

February 5, 2024 Food Institute

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Valentine’s Day Spending Preview Continues Murky Retail Outlook

I debated whether this next one belongs more in research than in economic indicators, but I see this as a yellow flashing light on the dashboard of consumers’ mental state, which naturally leads to their willingness to spend. A report by Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive thinktank, found that corporate profits made up 53% of inflation during the third and fourth quarters of 2023.

February 5, 2024 Forbes

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Inflation has fallen. Why are groceries still so expensive?

The Groundwork Collaborative, a left-leaning think tank, reported Friday that almost 30 percent of the rise in grocery prices has been driven by just five categories of food particularly vulnerable to supply chain shocks, including beef, chicken, fruits and vegetables and snacks.

February 2, 2024 The Washington Post