Will the prices really go down?

[FreeTime]

2.02 here!!!!!!

$2.11 where I am. WOW! You have us beat. I saw e85 for $1.80.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This argument falls apart if the restaurant wants to be open during school hours though. Not many high schoolers available to work the Wednesday 1pm shift.

I think it can be a combo of truths here. Management and franchise owner, etc those were where the living wage could realistically be made. It doesn't mean deserve a living wage for the rest of the workers should be the rebuttal though. The other part of it is yes you're right that younger individuals don't often have that daytime availability (until senior year that is if you're like my area) but it is also true that many younger individuals did take those nighttime and most especially weekend jobs (be it retail or fast food). And employers often relied on them to do so because the inverse becomes the case that a person who has kids might have a harder time working the nighttime or weekend shifts if they themselves have children they need to take care of.

I feel like in many areas we are over saturated with these type of restaurants so it would be good to see some consolidation.

That seems to depend on a lot of things. You'd think Starbucks is oversaturated but they seem to do okay. Go to Hawaii and you'll see a gobs of ABC stores right by each other. However, I do think there's a conversation about franchise owners as in some being better than others and specific locations of a given place as in is it in the right area to get sales.

Recently Hardees has been hit by anticipated closures including several in my area (though it's not been disclosed publicly which locations) but it's as a result of the franchise owner missing payments and other failed parts of the contract resulting in a lawsuit. It's a closure affecting multiple states.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's been pretty hard to figure out the exact impact on things like tariffs on groceries, some companies are more open about it than others but realistically since the pandemic we've all been through the ringer on things.

Avian flu is still big although in my area is now spreading to birds it didn't used to before causing great concern. But the avian flu's effect on chicken and eggs has ebbed quite a bit. However, there's been multiple recalls on eggs due to Salmonella recently.

Granted it was for potential metal fragments but the most recent shredded cheese recall affected a good variety of brands and types. We were affected by that as well having to throw out not only an opened package of cheese but also a full meal we made for a later date that was made with it sitting the freezer. It seems to be the mozzarella but it had a good impact on inventory for the cheese when we shopped next for shredded cheese.

The K-cups I've been buying I can't say are more than they were before the tariffs but there was a steady increase to the Great Value brand before the tariff. I will say it's been a bit since Costco had their sale to my recollection of their large multi-pack of k-cups and they reduced the number in them sometime during the pandemic. The rest of my k-cups I get from Amazon or as gifts. The whole bean coffee we get from Costco for usage during the weekend hasn't really gone up in costs. That said before we started buying the whole bean from Costco we did buy from a local company. We stopped about hmm 3 or more years ago when their pricing just became too high. I wanted to continue patronizing them because they were local and they were small and they were buying the coffee themselves but ultimately it was just too costly as a normal habit. If we were just once in a while drinkers you could buy the 12 oz container and use it as a treat but that's not us. For comparison a 12oz bag runs the lowest $18.50-$23.25 at the moment. A 32oz bag of coffee from Costco runs less than the least expensive. Obviously small batch locally purchasing small business is going to be more expensive but just to compare how the impacts would be for someone to do that as their norm.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

But this thread is wondering if prices will come down. Our favorite brand coffee has been selling $2 to $4 more (sale pricing) for a 10 pack of k-cups. Some of this is inflation but much of it is the tariffs directly imposed on coffee. Now that those have been rescinded, I’m hopefully the price will come down - even if it’s just slightly. We will see.

It does depend on where the place is buying their coffee, their coffee purchasing power, etc.

But honestly with respects to coffee, blends have become vital to do due to rising costs in coffee production, coffee bean availability including weather related issues (toured a Puerto Rico coffee farm a few years ago still with damage for their drying out sheds due to hurricane Maria for example) and labor costs. Blends allow companies to offset some of these costs. I know the local coffee shop I mentioned in my comment they were small batch small business that bought directly from coffee farmers, of course their pricing will be more sensitive to any change in the industry and they started getting quite price hike-y about 3 or so years ago.

I mentioned to some of my DISer friends about the impact to coffee due to the tariff when it was announced due to just how much coffee is bought from Brazil but I do think it's worth pointing out that without a company disclosing their exact expenditures before and after they can say it's due to X but not or not nearly to a high degree. A $2 to $4 increase on a 10 pack and that's with sales indicates to me the company you buy k-cups from is likely hiking up pricing far more than the tariffs were likely costing them, consumers often are handed down the impacts in greater amount than the original impact because profitability keeps that business alive. Though hard to say without knowing what the normal price was I just don't think as a consumer we are always being told what the reason is. A company is less likely to say it's a drought combined with labor costs, supply issues and tariffs if it would end up making a better selling point to say tariffs.

There's no doubt coffee pricing increased but I would be skeptical to think that much of an increase you've seen was purely tariffs when the coffee industry as a whole has been in a bind for years now due to much more about weather and crop production than anything (a study 11 years ago anticipated the land to grow coffee would drop by up to 50% by 2050 for example).

 

[HopperFan]

We are currently in FL and went to the local Walmart. No tourists just local Floridians. Normally on a Saturday I DREAD going to the packed store where I have to park way out. Today we parked right up front and the store was fairly empty. Prices were just unacceptable, all prices were not the old Walmart deals ~ makes sense now why locals were not shopping.

Bag of bakery rolls we have bought for YEARS for $3.97 were $5.97.
Tide I normally pay $13.99 was $19.99.
Meats - WOW!! Since I brought ham and turkey from Christmas we didn't buy any.

There was plenty on my list that we just didn't buy because of the prices. Some of these I can get for less at home so I understand this is a regional issue. I bought eggs today $3.92 for 18. They would be $2.98 at home. But my home prices are very still high compared to a year or two ago.

I don't care what any calculators or professionals or anyone else says .... reality is all that matters. Prices by me and especially here in FL have remained high overall. Sure they throw that bone of a good price on something here and there but once in the store they are making up for it on other things. Plus is I buy much less, make sure to not waste, get creative and when I see a good buy I can freeze I stock up. And we are probably eating healthier since we cut much of the extra ... like $6 for garbage Chip Ahoys.