Bleumangue

Food Shoppers Not Trading Down to Private Labels

Thank Goodness I saved the glass, paper and plastic containers of "top shelf" food products for reuse. Now I can delude myself more easily into believing that my net worth hasn't changed facing fixed income in a bear market recession compounded by 5% inflation. This has worked well for me in the past with generic Vodka and wine. Seriously though, I opine that the analyst is lying by omission. Private labels may be increasing prices - but they also are offering many more "loss leaders", coupon discounts, and general "on sale" items - at leat in the NH to NJ area. My gut feeling is that somebody somewhere is fudging data. Personal experience has proved to me that the daily paper pecking order of reading goes: supermarket ads; obits; and comics. Common sense tells me that supermarkets don't own, run and operate their own lands for food production. They buy the stuff from the same people that sell the higher priced items. Somewhere down the line the US Government does the same thing. Their branded label is called "Surplus Food". So what mathematical equation could be at work here? 3 items of private brand equal 1.3 generic? I'd say Mr. Driscoll's analysis is a product of MSRP thinking. That is, solid and factual, and having little to do with reality.