Experts Say Prices At Grocery Stores Will Continue To Rise For Over A Year
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — If you think you're paying more at the grocery store - you're not wrong.
Wholesale prices are at a record high and some supplies are scarce.
One woman said her grocery bill has been slowly climbing over the past few weeks.
"The prices are just so high," she said. She's not alone.
"Everything just seems to be a dollar to two dollars higher," said shopper Kathleen Postal. "This creep has just happened and it's very expensive."
"Prices are going up high," said shopper Irwin Ginsburg.
According to new figures released by the labor department, wholesale inflation jumped 8.3 percent from August of this year compared to August of 2020.
That's the biggest gain on record since the department started tracking it more than a decade ago.
"We haven't seen anything yet," said SuperMarketGuru.Com's Phil Lembert. "Prices are going to continue to go up for a good year and a half."
Lembert is the editor of SuperMarketGuru.Com and a food industry analyst.
"The biggest increases we will see has to do with animals," he said, "Whether it's eggs or milk or pork or beef."
Fires up north have decimated their feed. Supply chain issues like bottlenecks at the Port of Los Angeles and labor shortages are also to blame.
"We have a huge problem with a lack of truck drivers," Lembert said. "Refrigerated transport is up 10.4 percent in cost."
As prices increase, supplies have decreased.
"We're just having a hard time finding the types of things we want," Postal said.
At the grocery stores CBSLA's Kristine Lazar visited, she saw a limited supply of things like milk, butter, soda, snacks, paper products and baking supplies.
"Retailers who are filling out their orders to fill their shelves are not getting what they order," Lembert said. "It's estimated to be anywhere between 50 and 70 percent of what they order."
Experts say it still pays to shop around. Shoppers may want to try independent grocers or stores with different business models like The Dollar Store or Aldi.