Here’s the thing with modern groceries: most grocers are paying at cost or lower per food item. They are less than paper thing margins. Places like Costco will even sell them at a loss. Why? For not Costco-style stores it’s everything else is marked up heavy (also selling your data from those coupons or buying habits.) For Costco and similar businesses, it’s the membership fee.
Here in Texas, most groceries aren't taxed. I actually just went to the store this morning, and of about $100 bill, the only things taxed was some orange juice and potato salad. I suppose it's a tax on all beverages because I know soda is, and prepared food, the potato salad was from the deli area.
Having just gotten back from Europe, the disparity between grocery and restaurant prices between Europe and the US are nothing like it was when I first visited a decade ago. I didn't price thru the entire grocery store, but maybe produce costs more, particularly things that I don't think come from very near the Nordics (e.g. bananas). Drinks still cost more, but they've gone up a ton in the last few years in the US. Restaurants of the grade I eat in seem about the same pricing me, I don't really ever pay for fine dining myself. I even had a couple meals that were very cheap by any standards, like I remember one museum that had a delicious cafeteria lunch with drinks included for something like 11eur.
Interesting. In Québec, the 10% ''Taxe de Vente du Québec'' dosen't apply to food, except pre-made junkfood, with some confusing exceptions.
Prepackaged cookies boxes and soda? Taxed. Wait is that a box of freshly baked cookies? Not taxed. Is that ice-cream item over 500mL? Not taxed. Under? Taxed.
Is that packaged food item sold hot? Taxed. Cooled-down? Not taxed. ( I assume it's to prevent any smart ass trying to dodge sales taxes on restaurent meals ).
In the 1950s, there was an almost even split in percentage where the profits from grocery sales went between the farmer, the middleman/conglomerate, and the store. Then in the 90s, it swung so the middleman and the grocer made the lion's share. Now the middlemen have squeezed the grocer.
I remember back when I worked one my boss explained that our store made about 4 cents per dollar on most food items.
And for a lot of them that were easily damaged, and thereby we lost a lot in transit due to shit warehouse workers, we basically stocked them at a loss just to keep the vendor happy and our customers coming in to buy other things.
Grocery stores have a lot of faults but their markup is usually one of the fairest in the business.
She never had to work at a grocer, did she?
Here’s the thing with modern groceries: most grocers are paying at cost or lower per food item. They are less than paper thing margins. Places like Costco will even sell them at a loss. Why? For not Costco-style stores it’s everything else is marked up heavy (also selling your data from those coupons or buying habits.) For Costco and similar businesses, it’s the membership fee.
2-4% seems to be pretty common. Here in Norway food has a tax of 15%, everything else 25%.
The state takes 5 times what the store does on food.
I think most places in the US don't charge any tax on food since it's vital. Only dining out. But not groceries.
Here in Texas, most groceries aren't taxed. I actually just went to the store this morning, and of about $100 bill, the only things taxed was some orange juice and potato salad. I suppose it's a tax on all beverages because I know soda is, and prepared food, the potato salad was from the deli area.
Having just gotten back from Europe, the disparity between grocery and restaurant prices between Europe and the US are nothing like it was when I first visited a decade ago. I didn't price thru the entire grocery store, but maybe produce costs more, particularly things that I don't think come from very near the Nordics (e.g. bananas). Drinks still cost more, but they've gone up a ton in the last few years in the US. Restaurants of the grade I eat in seem about the same pricing me, I don't really ever pay for fine dining myself. I even had a couple meals that were very cheap by any standards, like I remember one museum that had a delicious cafeteria lunch with drinks included for something like 11eur.
Interesting. In Québec, the 10% ''Taxe de Vente du Québec'' dosen't apply to food, except pre-made junkfood, with some confusing exceptions.
Prepackaged cookies boxes and soda? Taxed. Wait is that a box of freshly baked cookies? Not taxed. Is that ice-cream item over 500mL? Not taxed. Under? Taxed.
Is that packaged food item sold hot? Taxed. Cooled-down? Not taxed. ( I assume it's to prevent any smart ass trying to dodge sales taxes on restaurent meals ).
In the 1950s, there was an almost even split in percentage where the profits from grocery sales went between the farmer, the middleman/conglomerate, and the store. Then in the 90s, it swung so the middleman and the grocer made the lion's share. Now the middlemen have squeezed the grocer.
I remember back when I worked one my boss explained that our store made about 4 cents per dollar on most food items.
And for a lot of them that were easily damaged, and thereby we lost a lot in transit due to shit warehouse workers, we basically stocked them at a loss just to keep the vendor happy and our customers coming in to buy other things.
Grocery stores have a lot of faults but their markup is usually one of the fairest in the business.