May HAVE to start "Gigging" again, and a lot more often...

[Versatile]

I was totally shocked last week...

 

Do you want to know why?

 

OK, due to the clamour I'll tell you...

 

I usually 'load up' at a very good supermarket with easy access...but have started to get annoyed by the ever increasing prices

 

I noticed a new street grocer and shopped there for fruit'n veg...noticing way low prices compared to the supermarket

 

Then I realised it was all imported from Europe with a must be huge carbon footprint...I guess 3000miles by road/air

 

How/why can this be?

 

I wonder quietly as I sit in the easy chair pondering... :unsure:

 

V (nonplussed)

 

[Jeff-7]

I was totally shocked last week...

 

Do you want to know why?

 

OK, due to the clamour I'll tell you...

 

I usually 'load up' at a very good supermarket with easy access...but have started to get annoyed by the ever increasing prices

 

I noticed a new street grocer and shopped there for fruit'n veg...noticing way low prices compared to the supermarket

 

Then I realised it was all imported from Europe with a must be huge carbon footprint...I guess 3000miles by road/air

 

How/why can this be?

 

I wonder quietly as I sit in the easy chair pondering... :unsure:

 

V (nonplussed)

 

Because that street grocer doesn't have outrageous heating, water, electricity, maintenance bills. The daily cost of operating at these stores would shock you. Doesn't have a large group of employees to pay like stockers, cashiers, etc. The vendor is probably buying a lower quality standard of product which increases his spread.

 

If I had a produce department with a 70% shrink on salads and the other high amounts across the board I would fire that produce manager. They need to be inventorying and watching their purchase to sales ratio. They might also have too large a department for their volume, and too large and varied selection of salads. People love variety in their shopping experience, but that same huge variety can really come back to haunt you.

 

Then again if the aforementioned store with the huge losses pulls from a corporate warehouse instead of an independent one they could be having this product forced on them, which is the fault of the warehouse and purchasers.

[milod]

Jeff...

 

Point is that most folks don't have a clue of how a business outside their experience works.

 

Frankly then at a certain point if a larger corporate entity has a relatively stable market, they almost can let that float along and make their real money through accounting and playing with the money itself along with tax law.

 

m

[Jeff-7]

Yeah, it's just how you have to play the game anymore. Nationwide average of profit from sales at supermarkets are 1 cent on the dollar, the government ends up with much more profit than the companies themselves.

 

My apologies if that sounded harsh, V, sometimes the tone of my posts are hard to convey. Was simply trying to pass along some insight into the operations of a large retailer.

[jaxson50]

There is greater demand globally for quality food and disposable items because of the emerging middle class in Asia and South America. Greater population then the earth has ever supported before is also placing more demands on food producers. Funny how we don't cry about the cost of iPads and cell phones and electronics, we take it in stride. But raise the cost of burgers and look out Jack!

[Californiaman]

You can still buy 5 lemons here for a $1.

 

In California it used to be 10 for a buck.

Produce prices are OK where we live. The price of meat has actually gone down recently.

It's the bread and milk and dairy products that keep going up.

[charlie brown]

Well, the cost increases on non-essential items, are sometimes aggrivating,

but...on essential items, like food, they can be diasterous. Especially,

for the poor, elderly on small fixed incomes, etc. And, if you live in an

rural area, where there is little "competition," the food stores can charge

whatever they want...to a point. Granted, we still have it good/great, compared

to some parts of the world. But that doesn't excuse ripping people off, at

the checkout counter, becuase "you/they can!" IMHO, as always.

 

Don't even get me started, on "insurance," pharmaceuticals, and/or medical expenses!

 

And, regarding small jobs, repairs, etc...you better know, or learn, to do it yourself...

or, be prepaired, with the KY jelly, to "bend over" when you get a quote, or bill.

 

CB

[BobF_]

Yes, food and energy are the real budget breakers ...

 

I wonder why the gubment excludes these from inflation calculations ... not really, I know why.

 

 

I find it unbelievable that elected officials still believe that we believe them when they piss on ours backs and tell us it's raining.

[Twang Gang]

There is a somewhat legitimate reason for food price increases. About five years ago (maybe a little longer) there was a major draught in the midwestern US where the great majority of the corn is grown. The corn crop that year was statistically almost non-existent compared to a normal year. We had millions of bushels of corn in reserve so it wasn't felt immediately. But we have caught up to it now, and corn has increased quite a bit in price. Corn is used to feed hogs and cattle, so beef and pork prices are up. Almost everything else you buy at the grocery store has corn syrup or corn starch in it as one of the ingredients, and food manufacturers have to pay more for that ingredient so the price is passed on to us.

 

Corn is also being used for alternative bio-fuels now where in the past it wasn't - so again supply and demand. These factors combined with inflation have caused food prices to rise.

 

But I like your solution - just get out and gig more. You'll enjoy it and the world will be that much richer for hearing your music.