食品价格飙升，美国民众的钱包很受伤
如今，填饱肚子意味着要付出比以往更高的代价。众所周知，食品是人们赖以生存和发展的基本必需品，但其在美国民众消费支出中的占比越来越高。随着百货和食品本身的价格创历史新高，无论是在家吃饭还是外出用餐，都变得更加奢侈。
《华尔街日报》（Wall Street Journal）分析称，自1991年以来，美国家庭在吃饭方面从未花过如此多的钱。美国农业部（U.S. Agriculture Department）最新的数据显示，截至2022年，消费者在食品方面的花费占到了可支配收入的11.3%。上一次美国家庭感受到通胀的痛苦还是在20世纪90年代初，当时其在食品方面的开支占比达到了11.4%。
即便通胀势头有所放缓，但食品似乎是消费者必须克服的最后障碍，因为人们每周上百货店的食物购买支出在不断增长。去年一整年，随着供应短缺使得一些常见物品成为紧俏商品，所有食品的价格，从鸡蛋到辣椒酱，都出现了大幅上涨。
哪怕只是买一包乐事薯片，人们都得掏更多的钱。一些人认为，之所以数年后食品的价格依旧与新冠疫情初期的价格相当，责任在于食品企业。批评者中身份最显赫的莫过于美国总统乔·拜登，他最近批评食品企业是造成食品价格持续高位运行的罪魁祸首。
为了应对他们口中的“贪婪通胀”和“缩水通胀”，消费者正在勒紧裤腰带，而且也在寻找那些非品牌类食品。Corbu的董事总经理萨缪尔·莱恩斯告诉美联社（Associated Press）：“我们开始看到，消费者不再愿意购买高价物品。因此各大公司也开始怀疑，公司是否能够仅靠价格来提升其营收。它们必须让营收数字恢复以往水平，但消费者的行为并没有如其所愿。”
其他人认为，居高不下的食品价格并不仅仅是因为企业高管们在挑战消费者的底线。零售应用程序Upside的百货业务副总裁泰勒·雷纳汉表示，店面也在努力应对各种成本的增加，例如抵押贷款利率、薪资以及水电煤气价格等。
不管这种因为食品成本而挑战消费者底线的做法是有意为之还是无心之举，消费者都会感觉到其带来的刺痛。麦当劳（McDonald’s）最近公布的季度业绩低于预期，部分原因可能因为支持巴勒斯坦的抗议以及供应链承受能力的减弱。首席执行官克里斯·肯普辛斯基在财报电话会议中回应业绩低迷状况时说：“我觉得我们会看到，随着2024年的深入，人们会越发关注我称之为负担能力的指标。”
对美国人来说，下馆子的花费也是越来越高。《华尔街日报》在对联邦数据进行评估后发现，餐馆食物的价格在一年内增长了5.1%。确实，哪怕只是去餐馆喝一杯，人们都会觉得贵，尤其是年轻一代美国民众，他们觉得餐厅和酒吧成本的上涨超出了其承受能力。在新冠疫情冲击之初，新文化的出现部分原因在于价格的上涨以及行为的内向化。不过，不管是在家吃饭，外出就餐还是自己烹饪，食物成本已然深深刺痛了消费者。（财富中文网）
译者：冯丰
审校：夏林
如今，填饱肚子意味着要付出比以往更高的代价。众所周知，食品是人们赖以生存和发展的基本必需品，但其在美国民众消费支出中的占比越来越高。随着百货和食品本身的价格创历史新高，无论是在家吃饭还是外出用餐，都变得更加奢侈。
《华尔街日报》（Wall Street Journal）分析称，自1991年以来，美国家庭在吃饭方面从未花过如此多的钱。美国农业部（U.S. Agriculture Department）最新的数据显示，截至2022年，消费者在食品方面的花费占到了可支配收入的11.3%。上一次美国家庭感受到通胀的痛苦还是在20世纪90年代初，当时其在食品方面的开支占比达到了11.4%。
即便通胀势头有所放缓，但食品似乎是消费者必须克服的最后障碍，因为人们每周上百货店的食物购买支出在不断增长。去年一整年，随着供应短缺使得一些常见物品成为紧俏商品，所有食品的价格，从鸡蛋到辣椒酱，都出现了大幅上涨。
哪怕只是买一包乐事薯片，人们都得掏更多的钱。一些人认为，之所以数年后食品的价格依旧与新冠疫情初期的价格相当，责任在于食品企业。批评者中身份最显赫的莫过于美国总统乔·拜登，他最近批评食品企业是造成食品价格持续高位运行的罪魁祸首。
为了应对他们口中的“贪婪通胀”和“缩水通胀”，消费者正在勒紧裤腰带，而且也在寻找那些非品牌类食品。Corbu的董事总经理萨缪尔·莱恩斯告诉美联社（Associated Press）：“我们开始看到，消费者不再愿意购买高价物品。因此各大公司也开始怀疑，公司是否能够仅靠价格来提升其营收。它们必须让营收数字恢复以往水平，但消费者的行为并没有如其所愿。”
其他人认为，居高不下的食品价格并不仅仅是因为企业高管们在挑战消费者的底线。零售应用程序Upside的百货业务副总裁泰勒·雷纳汉表示，店面也在努力应对各种成本的增加，例如抵押贷款利率、薪资以及水电煤气价格等。
不管这种因为食品成本而挑战消费者底线的做法是有意为之还是无心之举，消费者都会感觉到其带来的刺痛。麦当劳（McDonald’s）最近公布的季度业绩低于预期，部分原因可能因为支持巴勒斯坦的抗议以及供应链承受能力的减弱。首席执行官克里斯·肯普辛斯基在财报电话会议中回应业绩低迷状况时说：“我觉得我们会看到，随着2024年的深入，人们会越发关注我称之为负担能力的指标。”
对美国人来说，下馆子的花费也是越来越高。《华尔街日报》在对联邦数据进行评估后发现，餐馆食物的价格在一年内增长了5.1%。确实，哪怕只是去餐馆喝一杯，人们都会觉得贵，尤其是年轻一代美国民众，他们觉得餐厅和酒吧成本的上涨超出了其承受能力。在新冠疫情冲击之初，新文化的出现部分原因在于价格的上涨以及行为的内向化。不过，不管是在家吃饭，外出就餐还是自己烹饪，食物成本已然深深刺痛了消费者。（财富中文网）
译者：冯丰
审校：夏林
Being the very hungry caterpillar is a far more expensive feat these days. Food, well regarded as a basic necessity to live and thrive, is increasingly eating up Americans’ paychecks. Eating in and going out have become more of a luxury, as the price of groceries and food itself reaches new heights.
Households haven’t spent this much on food since 1991, according to analysis from the Wall Street Journal. The most recent data from the U.S. Agriculture Department shows that 11.3% of consumers’ disposable income was spent on food as of 2022. It’s a record-breaking high since households last felt the burn of inflation while spending 11.4% of their income on food in the early 1990s.
Even as inflation ebbs, food seems to be the final frontier that consumers must traverse as weekly trips to the grocery store weigh more on peoples’ wallets. Throughout the past year, everything from eggs to a bottle of sriracha surged in price as supply shortages turned commonplace items into hot commodities.
Simply buying a bag of Lay’s feels like chipping away a greater chunk of our savings. And some are pointing at corporations as the culprits for such early pandemic-era prices sticking around years later. One high-profile critic is President Biden, who recently blamed companies as the reason for such inflated food prices sticking around.
Consumers are tightening their belts when it comes to battling what they deem “greedflation” or “shrinkflation,” as they search for non-name-brand deals. “We’re beginning to see the consumer no longer willing to take the higher pricing,” Samuel Rines, managing director at Corbu, told the Associated Press. “So companies were beginning to get a little bit more skeptical of their ability to just have price be the driver of their revenues. They had to have those volumes come back, and the consumer wasn’t reacting in a way that they were pleased with,” he added.
Others suggest that these high food prices are not just about corporate executives pushing the limits because they can. Stores are trying to respond to costs like increasing mortgages, wages, and utilities, according to Tyler Renaghan, the VP of grocery at retail app Upside.
Whether or not the pushing the envelope regarding the cost of food is on purpose, customers are understandably feeling prickled. McDonald’s recently came out of a weaker quarter than expected, in part likely due to pro-Palestine boycotts and the waning affordability of the chain. “I think what you’re going to see as you head into 2024 is probably more attention to what I would describe as affordability,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said in an earnings call in response to the dip in sales.
Restaurants, too, have become more of an expense for Americans. In one year, prices at restaurants went up by 5.1%, according to the Journal’s assessment of federal data. Indeed, even going for a drink is losing favor with especially younger Americans struggling to justify the inflated cost of partaking in the restaurant or bar economy. A new culture has emerged after the pandemic first hit, in part due to pricing and also a more introverted type of behavior. But whether you’re eating in, taking out, or cooking, the cost of food is biting.
