Like steak? These are topped with a homemade prepared horseradish crust. Yum. Er, what was our point? Oh, yes. Steak and other meats are cheaper than they used to be. Food prices going down is welcomed by consumers but not so welcomed by the people selling the food. (AP Photo/J.M. Hirsch)
Here’s the good news. The price of food isn’t going up. In fact, some of the prices are coming down.
And here’s the bad news. The price of food isn’t going up. In fact, some of the prices are coming down.
What’s great for the consumer isn’t always so good for the restaurant owner, the grocery store executives, the farmer…
That said, while it sounds great for consumers to have less expensive food, obviously, there’s a limit to the fun to be had. If we were all paying five cents for a quart of milk and bread, grocery stores couldn’t stay in business, and, well, due to everything from cereal to coffee being worth a handful of dimes, our economy would likely be destroyed, and you’d probably be reading this article while warming your hands over a toasty trash can fire. But obviously food deflation isn’t going to last forever, and so for the moment, while we wait for prices to take its natural evolution upward, we might as well enjoy food prices being relatively low and remember that there are some good consequences for a little food deflation – even for those working in and profiting from the food industry.
Consumers have more money to spend at restaurants. When Wendy’s executives recently had a conference call with analysts, they blamed food deflation on their woes, stating that between the rising costs of eating out and dropping prices at the grocery store, it was no contest for some consumers. One of them remarked, in fact, “It’s gotten a lot cheaper…to get fresh beef at your local butcher and go home and grill it.”
That may be true. Who am I to argue with Wendy’s? But Nicole Ponseca, an owner of two New York City restaurants, Maharlika Filipino Moderno and Jeepney Gastropub, pointed out to me that food deflation could, in theory, also help restaurants rather than hurt them.
“If a diner is reluctant to dine out due to expenses, lowering food costs [at the supermarket] may actually free up some disposable income and divert it from home-cooking-staples to enjoying a nice meal out a favorite or new restaurant,” she says.
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