Talking Turkey -- Okay, Talking Cornish Hen -- Januuary 14, 2024

Locator: 46535RETAIL.

We have several grocery stores within biking distance (five minutes) or walking distance (one block away): Tom Thumb, Albertson's (owns Tom Thumb), Target, and Walmart. HEB will break ground on a new supermarket this summer to be sited between Target and Walmart. And then, of course, we have Amazon's same-day delivery. My wife's favorite store is Market Street, about seven minutes away by car, and my personal favorite is Kroger, 3 miles away on a bike path (20 minutes, next to a Lego store). 

Lately, there's been renovations and a change in name of some of the stores connected with the recent acquisition of Alberton's by Kroger (the merger is still yet to close). But our Albertson's store will become a Tom Thumb store and the existing Tom Thumb will be acquired by a-yet unnamed grocer, which will likely fail in that area, and Albertson's will end up acquiring it. (It's happened before.)

Kroger is, by far, the least expensive with the best produce, and a butcher on site, but Walmart has similarly low prices, produce almost as good, but no butcher, and way more SKUs.

I dread going into Tom Thumb: prices are outrageous. Albertson's used to have great prices but with all the changes, I no longer know.

Target: by far, my least favorite among the big three -- Walmart, Kroger, and Target. 

Anyway, at Tom Thumb two days ago I was amazed that the "usual two-Cornish-hen" package was selling for more than $12, when I had been used to paying $6.99 for years, with an occasional sale of "$1 off" for $5.99 for two birds.

So, the $12 was almost bizarre, certainly incredible. I do think it sold for around $9 with a loyalty card.

So, I was curious: two screenshots below, one from yesterday and one from today:

Prices:

• Walmart, pick-up today: one for $3.72, two for $7.44.
• Kroger, pick-up today, $4.50; two for $9.00
• Kroger, two-hen package: $8.99 (yesterday, in our store, the same package, $9.99)
• Walmart, two-hen package: $9.48
• Tom Thumb, two-hen package: $10.47 (probably with a loyalty card)

Regardless: one of my favorite dinners; and preparation time (not including oven) -- five minutes and I get to truss them and season them with different spices. I was just surprised to see $6.99-Cornish hen going for almost $13 at Albertsons/Tom Thumb two days ago.

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Snacks

Link here.

From the linked article:

Last week, French grocery chain Carrefour said it would stop selling a range of PepsiCo products due to “unacceptable price increases.”

The snack giant pushed back, telling The Wall Street Journal it was the one that stopped supplying the supermarket.

The public showdown is a testament of Europe’s food inflation that remains high even as price gains in the U.S. have slowed down. But companies like PepsiCo are raising prices for one simple reason: Consumers aren’t cutting back their purchases that much, yet.

PepsiCo’s earnings numbers are telling: It’s making plenty of money in Europe despite complaints from consumers, politicians, and grocers about high prices.

In the latest fiscal quarter ended on Sept. 9, the price mix of Pepsico’s products was 13% higher than a year ago in the European market, but sales volume remained the same, according to company filings. That means a 13% growth in organic net sales with no offset.

Exactly what President Biden is telling Americans -- price gouging -- or sticky pricing -- charging what the customer will bear.

With well-managed costs, the food giant grew its profit even more. Excluding the impact from foreign exchange rates, Pepsico’s operating profit in Europe has increased 34% in the latest quarter from a year ago, and margins expanded 82 basis points, according to filings.

PepsiCo’s earnings numbers are telling: It’s making plenty of money in Europe despite complaints from consumers, politicians, and grocers about high prices.

In the latest fiscal quarter ended on Sept. 9, the price mix of Pepsico’s products was 13% higher than a year ago in the European market, but sales volume remained the same, according to company filings. That means a 13% growth in organic net sales with no offset.

With well-managed costs, the food giant grew its profit even more. Excluding the impact from foreign exchange rates, Pepsico’s operating profit in Europe has increased 34% in the latest quarter from a year ago, and margins expanded 82 basis points, according to filings.

More from that article:

It’s yet to be seen whether Carrefour’s boycott could help it cut a better deal with PepsiCo.

Affected Carrefour stores represent only 0.25% of PepsiCo’s global revenue, according to the WSJ report, so the move will likely have little impact on the food giant.

Pepsi Co practically "owns" the snack aisle in most American grocery stores.

For me:

• Lay's potato chips: $4.29
• Market Pantry (store brand): $2.19