Popular Grocery Chain With 120 Michigan Locations Admits to Price Gouging

The grocery chain is accused of raising its prices above the rate of inflation.

In such tough economic times as these?! Not cool, man.

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Especially after the economic struggles we endured during the Covid-19 pandemic such as supply chain issues, housing shortages, and skyrocketing healthcare costs.

We've watched local mom and pop shops lose their fight to billion dollar corporate industries, but now even retail giants like Big Lots and Bed Bath & Beyond are shuttering their stores too.

Yet in spite of all this economic uncertainty there are still those billion dollar institutions that continue to report record-breaking profits such as Indiana-based pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, one of the world's top 3 insulin manufacturers, reported a strong 4th quarter in 2023 with a 28% increase in revenue.

Another company who did remarkably well in 2023 was the nation's largest traditional supermarket company, Kroger.

According to Food Industry for the fiscal year 2023 Kroger, "reported over $148 billion in revenue." However, in recent anti-trust hearings Bloomberg reports a top exec at the Ohio-based grocery chain admitted the company,

raised the prices of eggs and milk more than needed to account for inflation

The problem is Kroger isn't the only grocery chain that does this! While corporate price gouging has plagued the U.S. for decades and is nothing new, Kroger execs claim they've been singled out.

Kroger's price gouging only came to light during standard FTC hearings over their proposed mega-merger with the Albertsons grocery chain. Jake Johnson of Common Dreams writes,

In its legal challenge against Kroger's proposed merger with Albertsons, the FTC argues that the deal would further drive up costs for consumers by eliminating "fierce competition" between the two grocers.

For now the Michigan Kroger stores remain safe with no plans of closing them should the merger be approved-- which I'm guessing it won't be.