Starting this year, you may notice you're spending more at the grocery store. That's because many major brands known for their snacks, condiments, and other popular products on store shelves have announced their prices are going up in 2022.
Hitendra Chaturvedi, a professor of practice in supply chain management at Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business, says starting early, prices are going up by about 5-7%. But he says that number is even higher if you consider the fact that many products are shrinking in size, which means you are now getting less for more.
“The average person should be concerned about this because their paycheck is not increasing at the same rate,” he said.
In 2022, he says a $300 grocery receipt will be more like $350.
Why? Companies have blamed labor and supply shortages, but there's also speculation it could be for another reason.
“Some of these numbers are not adding up," Chaturvedi said. "Is it where we are moving into a realm where scarcity of product has been created artificially to jack up the prices and profits? I don’t know, but somewhere these companies are making obscene profits where us as a consumer are paying higher prices at the grocery store."
Chaturvedi wants to remind consumers not to hoard items because he says it can cause companies to increase prices even more. He says he wants the government to dig deeper into why prices are increasing as much as they are.
