A Popular Texas Grocery Store Now Admits to Price Gouging

Listen I'm all about companies making their profit, we are a capitalist country after all. But during times like this, of record inflation, to take advantage of your customers is not a good look. Even the appearance of it won't sit well.

This will come as a shock to absolutely no one, but it stings, even more, to officially learn that one major supermarket chain here in Texas jacked up prices of two items that are staples for every household in the U.S.

The price of milk and eggs has been a hot-button issue since the pandemic, among many other necessities. And it turns out that while we've been being told it was inflation and supply chain issues, at least one major grocery store has been jacking up prices for sheer profit.

What is price gouging?

Price gouging is when a seller increases the price of a product or service to an unreasonable level, often during a time of emergency or disaster. This is often done to take advantage of a spike in demand for a necessity, such as food, medicine, or fuel.

According to the Common Dreams website, the price gouging came to light during a Federal Trade Commission investigation with Andy Groff, Kroger's senior director for pricing: "The grocery chain raised its egg and milk prices above the rate of inflation, a concession that came as no surprise to economists who have been highlighting corporate price gouging across the U.S. economy in recent years."

The information was released due to Kroger's pending acquisition of Albertson's. Bloomberg reports that a spokesperson for Kroger said that admission was "cherry-picked" and "does not reflect Kroger's decades-long business model to lower prices for customers by reducing its margins."

Kroger currently operates 209 grocery stores in 84 cities across Texas, the most of any state.