More specifically, inflation is the most cited political issue by a plurality of Americans. Thanks to the foolish economic policies of the Biden administration, the price increases that have plagued the U.S. the past few years have hit most Americans quite hard. In other words, “Bidenomics” is best described as “Bidenflation.”
Of course, Joe Biden, his Democrat colleagues, and his nefarious media apologists are working overtime to attempt to gaslight as many Americans as possible when it comes to the U.S. economy. Biden and his ilk have gone so far as to claim that Americans’ concerns on inflation are due to “disinformation” spread via social media. As Joy Pullmann at The Federalist recently put it, “It’s not social media making inflation top of Americans’ minds, it’s every trip to every store.”
Like tens-of-millions of other Americans, my wife and I know this all too well. And like most Americans dismayed by inflation, the grocery store is where we are most frequently reminded of “Bidenflation.” With this in mind, I took it upon myself to do a bit of research.
We have a large Kroger grocery store very near our house and shop there often, usually multiple times a week. Using a current Kroger weekly ad and a Kroger weekly ad from early December of 2019, for multiple popular grocery store items, I compared prices. The results were telling.
I chose December because that is the current month, and I chose 2019 because this is just prior to the Covid economy and the Biden economy, when inflation really took off. Finding old Kroger weekly ads proved more difficult than I thought, so I went with what I found most quickly. Thus, I used the December 4-10, 2019 weekly ad from a Kroger in Russellville, Arkansas.
For accuracy, I used last week’s weekly ad (11/29-12/5) from Russellville, Arkansas. However, after a same-day (as my online research) visit to the Kroger near our home (in GA), I noticed that the current Russellville ad was nearly identical to our current weekly Kroger ad.
Due to the Kroger weekly being copyrighted (even though it is a free item), I cannot show images directly from each ad here. (Go to the links above for those.) Thus, to provide a visual for the grocery items described throughout the rest of this piece, I replicated the ads using photos that I took.
The table below contains items from several different ads within each Kroger weekly with accurate pricing information below each image. The left-hand column contains items from the 2019 Kroger weekly. The right-hand column contains items from the 2023 Kroger weekly or from inside a Kroger store. Each row of the table shows the exact same, or very similar, items.
|
2019
(Kroger) |
2023
(Kroger) |
|
Final Cost (With Card) When You
Buy 4: 4/$10 (Coke or Pepsi) |
Final Cost (With Card) When You
Buy 4: 4/$12 (Coke or Pepsi) |
|
Final Cost (With Card) When You
Buy 4: 99₵ (Coke, Pepsi, or 7UP)
Otherwise Price is $1.67 |
Final Cost (With Card) When You
Buy 5: 5/$5 (Pepsi 2L, Gatorade 28oz,…) Otherwise Price is $2.99 |
|
Dr. Pepper, Select Varieties of 24-Pack, 12 fl oz Cans, $4.77 Each With Card and Digital Coupon (Without Coupon and With Card, $6.99 each.) |
Coca-Cola or Pepsi, Select Varieties of 24-Pack, 12 fl oz Cans, $7.99 Each With Card and Digital Coupon (Without Coupon and With Card, $13.99 each.) |
 Final Cost 9.25-11.25 oz., Select
Varieties, With Card:$1.88 (Without Card Cost: $2.88) |
Final Cost, 6-10.75oz., Select Varieties, When You Buy 4 With Card: $2.29 (Less Than 4 With Card Cost: Up to $5.49) |
 Boneless English Roast: $2.99/LB With Card |
 Boneless Beef Chuck Roast: $5.99/LB With Card |
 Boneless Ribeye Steaks: $9.99/LB With Card
|
 Boneless Ribeye Steaks: $15.99/LB With Card
|
 Kroger Ground Turkey, 93% Lean, 16oz, $2.99 With Card |
 Kroger Ground Turkey, 93% Lean, 16oz, $4.99 With Card |
 Kellogg’s Large Size Cereal, 14.6
to 19.2 oz., Select Varieties, $2.49 Each (Original Price: $3.49) |
 Kellogg’s Large Size Cereal, 7.8
to 18 oz., Select Varieties, $2.99 Each (Original Price: $4.49 to $5.69)
|
“With card” means that the customer contains a “Kroger card.” This is free and is obtained by merely applying for it. It must be scanned at the register to obtain the “with card” price.
These price comparisons are not perfect, but they’re close enough to reveal the real story when it comes to inflation in America. As “shrinkflation” (reduced product size in an attempt to hide even higher costs to the consumer) is also part of the story here, let me give row by row details from the table above and provide more information to what the ads above reveal.
- Row 1 (Coke/Pepsi six-pack of bottles): The product size (16.9 fl oz) here has not changed, but the regular sale price is almost always at least 20% (as is shown) higher in 2023 than in 2019. The four six-packs for $12 deal shown (2023 column) is often four-for-$13 or four-for-$15. Four-for-$15 is a 50% increase from the 2019 price.
- Row 2 (Pepsi two liter): The sale price here is virtually identical, but the two-liter Coke or Pepsi for $1 deal is very rare these days. Also, note the original prices. A two-liter Pepsi in 2019 cost $1.67. Today it costs $2.99. (The same is true for Coke.) This is a 79% increase.
- Row 3 (24-pack of soda): Though the comparison here is between two different brands (Dr. Pepper vs. Coke/Pepsi), these prices were and are typical for name-brand 24-pack sodas. The $4.77 to $7.99 is a 67.5% increase. Also, again note the original price. The 2019 24-pack cost $6.99. The 2023 24-pack costs $13.99. This is a 100% increase!
- Row 4 (Doritos): This type of product is where the “shrinkflation” is typical. Doritos and other chip brands have significantly reduced the size of their products, and the prices are still significantly higher. The increase in the “without card” cost is 90.6%.
- Row 5 (English roast vs. Chuck roast): These two cuts of meat are very similar and thus are often priced the same. The 2019 to 2023 comparison shows the cost per-pound of this type of beef has essentially doubled. Again, this is a 100% increase! This steep level of inflation is common throughout the U.S. when it comes to the price of beef. The dramatic rise in the cost of beef is one of the most notable increases in the Bidenflation era.
- Row 6 (boneless ribeye steaks): There was no ribeye steak ad in the 2023 Kroger weekly, so the 2023 information here is a current price from in the store. Again, we see a steep increase in the price of beef, from $9.99 a pound to $15.99 a pound. This is a 60% increase.
- Row 7 (ground turkey): Again, there was not a ground turkey ad in the 2023 Kroger weekly, so the information in the 2023 column is from inside our Kroger store. The jump from $2.99 to $4.99 per pound is a 67% increase. Bidenflation has hit meat prices in general quite hard.
- Row 8 (Kellogg’s breakfast cereals): Breakfast cereals are another product where “shrinkflation” is common. (Again, the information in the 2023 column is from inside our Kroger store.) So, though the sale price “with card” increase is “only” 20% ($2.49 to $2.99) and the original price increase—$3.49 to $4.49 (and up)—is at least a 28.7% increase, the actual price increase is larger due to less cereal in each 2023 box. The “large cereal size” in 2019 was from 14.6 to 19.2 oz. The comparable Frosted Flakes boxes today are 13.5 oz. The comparable 2023 Fruit Loop and Apple Jacks boxes are each only 10.1 oz. The current price (images not shown) for “large size” Kellogg’s Corn Pops (13.1 oz) and Apple Jacks (13.2 oz) is $5.79. Without taking into account the shrinkflation, this is a 65.9% increase.
Though this is just a handful of items—there are many more I could’ve mentioned—this small sample size is well representative of the large and widespread inflation throughout the U.S. food industry. Also, Kroger prices are well representative of American grocery stores in general. After Walmart and Costco, Kroger is the largest supermarket retail chain in the U.S.
In spite of the attempted spin by Biden and his apologists, Bidenflation is all too real, and it is devastating to millions of American families.
Copyright 2023, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
www.trevorgrantthomas.com
Trevor is the author of the The Miracle
and Magnificence of America
trevorgrantthomas@gmail.com
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