Situated at the end of the supply chain, the big supermarket chains have been singled out as the main culprit for these price increases, with a particular focus on their reported profits. [...] From January 2022 to July 2022, food prices tracked the same as all-items CPI and after July 2022, the CPI for food continued to rise, despite the levelling-off of the all-items CPI index. [...] From the first quarter of 2021 to the third quarter of 2022 (the latest period for which there are data for all of these different prices), the price of food purchased at stores rose by 12.6 percent. [...] Meanwhile, at the top of the supply chain over the same period, prices of raw materials (both crop and animal products) and food imports rose at a faster clip. [...] Some questions for their consideration include: • Why has the recent decrease in the raw material price index for crops not been reflected in prices at the factory gate? Were food processors absorbing the significant increases in material input costs over the summer of 2022, or are they enjoying greater profits now? • Wholesale margins have risen much faster than food inflation measured at the cas.
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