(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
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Americans Suffer Food Insecurity as Top Food Companies Pad Profits [1]
['Emily Hoyle']
Date: 2023-05-10 12:57:24+00:00
Washington, DC — In response to the Labor Department’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, a new analysis from Accountable.US revealed three of the largest U.S. “food at home” companies—including Mondelez, General Mills, and Kraft Heinz—continue to pad their profits with aggressive price hikes, despite a combined 51% increase in year-over-year net earnings during their first fiscal quarters of the 2023 calendar year, easing inflation, and worsening food insecurity across the country. Meanwhile, these companies spent over $1.3 billion on shareholder dividends. The findings are the most recent evidence that while inflation is slowing, the Fed’s single-minded policy of repeated interest rate hikes are doing little to contain the primary driver of rising costs — corporate greed.
Over the course of 2022, “food at home” prices rose by nearly 12% year over year. Fast-forward to May 2023, and food at home has continued to stay stubbornly high, driven by cereal and bakery products climbing by nearly 1% in March 2023. This has placed increased pressure on American consumers, who are forced to skip meals to cut costs. Still, Chief Economist for UBS Wealth Management Paul Donovan told The Wall Street Journal companies were “confident that they can convince consumers that it isn’t their fault,” using bottlenecks and high energy costs as an excuse for hiking prices. This disparity is the latest materialization of a continued trend of corporate greed and profiteering from the big U.S. food industry.
For instance, Accountable.US found Mondelez—who owns popular brands such as Belvita and Chips Ahoy!—saw a shocking 142% increase in quarterly earnings after announcing price hikes, which empowered it to spend $928 million in dividends and stock buybacks for their wealthiest shareholders.
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[1] Url:
https://accountable.us/americans-suffer-food-insecurity-as-top-food-companies-pad-profits/
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