Finally, someone standing up to “big grocery”:

Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren

Giant grocery chains have been jacking up prices on food and using inflation as a cover to fatten profits. If the @kroger & @Albertsons deal goes through, this could hit consumers with higher prices. We need more competition, not more concentrated power.

cnn.comWhat this mega supermarket merger could mean for your grocery bills | CNN BusinessIn a mega-deal that could have a huge impact on grocery shopping in America, Kroger and Albertsons announced Friday plans to merge.

9:09 PM ∙ Oct 20, 2022

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Oh, and from the fine folks at Reason earlier this year:

Warren could hardly have picked a worse industry to use as an example: Grocery stores consistently have among the lowest profit margins of any economic sector. According to data compiled this month by New York University finance professor Aswath Damodaran, the entire retail grocery industry currently averages barely more than 1 percent in net profit. In its most recent quarter, Kroger reported a profit margin of 0.75 percent, during a time in which Warren claims that the chain was "expanding profits" due to its "market dominance."

In actuality, for much of the last year, grocery stores have seen enormous boosts in revenue, but not increased profitability, for the simple reason that everything has been costing more: not just products, but transportation, employee compensation, and all the extra logistical steps needed to adapt to shopping during a pandemic. Couple that with persistent inflation—which Warren also recently blamed on "price gouging"—and it is no wonder that things seem a bit out of balance.