Higher Prices At The Grocery Store? Food Inflation Is Rising After Two Years Of Declines

Grocery stores would love to raise prices on food this year, especially after they lowered them last year and the year before in a price war that pinched their profits.

Prices are rising for the raw materials that go into packaged food — for ingredients like grains and meats — so it’s costing grocers more to buy food from manufacturers.

But grocers are likely to be cautious passing those price increases onto shoppers. There’s just too much competition out there.

“Everybody’s afraid to raise prices and have a customer notice it,” said Mike Schwartz, owner of longtime Omaha retailer Wohlner’s Neighborhood Grocery and Deli at 33rd and Dodge Streets.

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