When economies in the developing world run up against spiraling inflation, the international monetary authorities always advise austerity— cutting back on the money supply, and cutting back on government spending
But shoppers are finding the experience has changed in the last two years, or even the last two months — with prices going up, they’re having to pay a lot more attention to the running tab.
“People are buying less,” says Zeke Kreitner, general manager and purchaser at Seasons Kosher supermarket, “and we’re noticing that our customers are focusing more on necessities, and not spending on luxuries as much as they used to.”
Even after shoppers pare down to the minimum, their grocery bills are significantly up since the beginning of this year. It’s a phenomenon not unique to the frum market. According to national estimates, the average American family saw their grocery bills increase by $175 a month since the start of the current economic crisis, the steepest price hikes in over 30 years.
With inflation hitting a 31-year high this past week, a labor shortage threatening an already broken supply chain, a still-unpredictable virus wreaking havoc on global markets — with governmental actions taking as high a toll as the pandemic itself — consumers and proprietors alike have been feeling the squeeze on their bottom lines.
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