U.S. grocery store executives say demand for cheap canned meats such as Spam and Wiener sausages is surging as cash-strapped shoppers look for extra paychecks in the face of relentless food inflation. It is said that there is.
Conagra, the conglomerate that owns Duncan Hines, Hunt’s Ketchup and Birds Eye, said this week its canned meat portfolio, which includes Armastar Vienna Sausage and Manwich Sleuth Joes, is “on fire.” According to a report from Reuters.
Miguel Garcia, who runs supermarkets in the Bronx under the Food Town, Key Food and Met Food Market brands, said his stores are now selling Spam, Libby’s Corned Beef and Chef Boyardee’s Spaghetti & Meatballs as sales increased 10%. He said he has started arranging them.
“Spam has become commonplace again,” Garcia told the Post. “I’m going to buy more, so I’m selling it at a discount now.”
The canned meat craze comes as food prices have soared 21% over the past three years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Republicans are pushing back as pandemic-era increases in federal SNAP and WIC benefits expire. They are accusing Bidennomics of eating away at their paychecks, despite the fact that they are
Although price increases have slowed recently, they have not reversed. In response, major food manufacturers from Kraft Heinz to Coca-Cola are dangling discounts.
Conagra plans to launch a new product in May that includes six chicken patties for $6.99, the company said. CEO Sean Connolly said the company has been implementing small and frequent price cuts during that time.
“We may invest below key price benchmarks,” Connolly told Reuters. It’s a “shallow discount, but it’s meant to be provocative and make it more effective.”
Garcia said his store recently reduced the price of a 12-ounce can of Spam from $6 to $4.99, and Libby’s corned beef from $6.99 to $4.99.
Garcia said shoppers are buying more items, but the average purchase price at the checkout is lower because they’re more focused on rock-bottom prices.
“Our average sale price was close to $20 at the end of last year, and now it’s about $15,” he said. “People are putting cheaper items in their carts.”
Elsewhere, grocery shoppers are eating peanut butter for protein or filling up on starches and carbohydrates, food company executives told Reuters.
Sales of Conagra’s Andy Capp corn-based snack are up 30%, and sunflower seed snacks like David Seeds are “performing spectacularly,” said Bob, Conagra’s senior vice president. Nolan told Reuters.
That’s not necessarily a good thing, said Carlos Rodriguez, chief policy and operations officer at City Harvest, a New York City fresh produce retailer.
Rodrigues said people struggling to make ends meet will eat “anything that’s on the shelf that can be stretched out long enough to feed the many mouths that might be sitting around the table.” He says he is buying it.
It’s “goods we usually want: fresh, nutritious food.”
According to the latest available U.S. Census data, in 2022, approximately one-third of Black American households and 21% of white American households will be considered low-income, typically making less than approximately $35,000 a year. I am.
“We expect the reduction in SNAP benefits to be a headwind,” Dollar Tree CEO Richard Dreyling said on a March 13 earnings call.
In February, Kellogg’s CEO Gary Pilnick sparked outrage by suggesting that struggling Americans could eat cereal for dinner to help make ends meet.
“The cereal category has always been very affordable and tends to be the go-to destination when consumers are under pressure,” Pilnick said in an interview with CNBC. “Eating cereal for dinner is probably more of a trend now.”
Pilnick was quickly criticized for his insensitive comments on social media.
“Anything @KelloggsUS can do to make more money from people during a crisis. I wonder what their CEO is having for dinner? Hmm… All day long, prices go up without a second thought. It’s embarrassing, embarrassing.” written by user To X.
