Food Prices - are some companies profiteering?

[Moonopoly]

Just wondering what your thoughts are. I went in to Co-op near us and the Nescafé (admittedly large) was £8 a jar!
I generally shop in Aldi, Heron Foods or Iceland but occasionally nip in to Sainsburys, Co-op or Morrisons. The former have had small price increases but the later seem to have some crazy leaps in cost!

but then coop will be much cheaper on another item that is more expensive than the other supermarkets

that is how they work.

You don't have to buy it. Either buy something different or go somewhere else.

It's like all the Lurpak fuss. People are complaining about the price of massive tubs of Lurpak spreadable while ignoring the fact that it's equivalent to 4 blocks of normal butter and works out about the same price anyway.

In just about all cases there has been something very similar available for less, so you only pay the high price if you choose to.

@BarbaraofSeville Some people have no transport so do have to buy it…
And there are definite price increases across the board. This is just one example and I wondered peoples thoughts. Not sure why all the comments so far are snarky!

Undoubtedly there are companies who are. The large companies hedge a lot of their costs to protect themselves from sudden rises but somehow still have doubled the price of their product (looking at you Heinz).

Not much is cheaper in Coop. They charge a premium because of the convenience factor, especially for things like coffee which people want to buy straight away.

The jars of Lloyd Grossman pasta sauce are £3.40 in my local coop, £1.25 in Asda.

Online shopping is a good option for those without transport, you can usually get a same day or next day delivery pretty easily.

@DockOTheBay if you have the funds (or you need a full shop) then yes but not if you want one item

Also I love the ‘if you choose to’ comment @BarbaraofSeville

so we all have to go to every shop to make sure we are not being ripped off…great

Honestly yes they are in some shops

I agree OP. 8 quid is wild money for a normal jar of coffee.
I felt similar on Friday doing a top up shop which was only - 4 burger buns, 1 small block butter, 2 bottles kopperberg, £10.50 that was only around 6 quid this time last year. Obviously the kopperbergs were not essential but a little Friday treat that I think soon will be totally unaffordable

I think you may be looking for reasons to be offended... But if it's £8 a jar coffee or £3 a jar but wait a few days until the next "big" shop then I know what I would choose.

To answer your question, no I don't think co-op are profiteering any more than they always have. They are a business so making a profit is their aim, and in fact co-op are better than most at supporting community projects and "passing on" the profits. They have always charged a premium for convenience and continue to do so. If people didn't buy it they wouldn't sell it.

I don’t drive either OP and have to get things when I’m in a shop. Having a food shop delivered if you want a large food shop is an option but delivery slots can be expensive and lots of items don’t turn up or are substituted with things that are completely inappropriate or out of date and I have to go out and buy these items myself.

Yes prices have increased massively. We’re veggie and the price of Quorn frozen foods has gone up and now they’re more expensive in Asda than Sainsbury’s. Surely veggie foods should be cheaper than meat but that isn’t the case. Prices are expected to go up further during the summer.

No you don't have to go to all the shops, but if you're price sensitive, you don't do all your shopping in the Co-op, it's not hard.

Prices can be found online on trolley.co.uk or individual websites. Nearly everyone has a phone they can use to check prices while they're stood in front of the £8 coffee in the Co-op if they aren't sure if the price is too much.

Try to avoid getting into a position where you need something 'now' so you have to pay the higher price. Look for offers and buy when you see cheap. When the item runs out, start looking again. You can do this easily online, or by scanning the aisle ends as you go round the supermarket.

If you aren't near a cheaper shop, you need to find a way to get to one cheaply, or use delivery. Or use a shopping trolley if you walk to shops so the cheaper one a mile away becomes an option over the expensive one on the doorstep.

What you don't do is not bother to do any of the things you could do to improve the situation and just buy from the expensive shop and complain about it.

@DockOTheBay I think you are missing the point of my post. I’m not asking about this particular jar of coffee but if you think companies are profiteering. As other posters have mentioned there are price increases on most products (some big, some small) Are these necessary? I guess their posted yearly profits will show that… if food companies have made huge profits will there be windfall taxes on them?

Have you had food delivered more recently? I would have agreed with you during COVID but these days I can get a next day slot for £1 and there are rarely substitutions (and if there are, they're usually sensible)

@BarbaraofSeville Are you a share holder for a large food company?!
As previous said people only have physical access to shops like Co-op and other convenience stores.
As stated in my OP I luckily have access to several cheaper stores locally but what I’m asking is if these price hikes are genuinely reflective of the cost to the companies?

They're publically listed companies, which means they have a legal obligation to maximise profit for their shareholders. Of course they're going to charge whatever they think they can get away with paying. And of course there won't be windfall taxes under this government.

They offset

so the wholesale food items that are genuinely massively increasing, the supermarkets subsidise but then offset by increasing cost other items that wholesale prices have not massively increased

makes total business sense

@badgermushrooms And should we just be okay with that? Food is a necessity!

Coffee isn’t!

@Bertieboo82 but are the current hikes genuinely representative of real world cost increases (obviously there are some) or just an opportunity to make more money? If so where does it end?! Aren’t they also driving inflation by doing this?

@Bertieboo82 ffs I’m not just talking about a jar of coffee…

Crazy how accepting people are of this…
Does any one know what the government is doing to stabilise the food costs?

Wait until they publish their accounts

i highly doubt this period will see any substantial increase in profits from previous years

@Bertieboo82 how do you know that?