Connecticut lawmakers push for lower food prices

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — You’ve seen it at the grocery store. Prices keep going up.

Some top officials were in New Haven on Monday morning talking about investigating the alarming trend. At Nica’s Market, the stores owner said his costs keep going up.

“Not like 10 cents, 20 cents like they used to be,” Nica’s Market owner Giuseppe Sabino said. “Now, it’s 50 to a dollar. Everything has doubled.”

Sabino hosted some top officials who are investigating what’s behind those prices.

“People in Connecticut, we hear from them all the time, constituents, residents, they want us to take a hard look at these prices,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said.

However, that by law, Tong’s office can only investigate price gouging during emergencies, and it cannot investigate suppliers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food prices went up 3.5-4% in 2020 and 2021. Prices then soared by almost 10% in 2022, and almost 6% last year.

Monday, officials said in that time, food companies have seen dramatic increases in profits.

Another factor contributing to the rising prices is the fact that places like Nica’s — small, independent, mom and pop stores — are disappearing. In fact, there are fewer grocery stores altogether these days.

Rep Rosa DeLauro said the U.S. has one-third fewer grocery stores than it did 25 years ago.

Big chains keep buying up competitors.

“So it is this hyper-consolidation that is one of the single biggest issues that is, in my view, responsible for driving the costs up,” DeLauro said.

However, it is out of the control of the stores, according to Wayne Pesce, the president of the Connecticut Food Association.

“The food retail industry faces very tight profit margins, significant labor and operations costs, and fluctuating prices due to various external factors,” Pesce said.

A war or a drought halfway around the world can also affect the cost of your groceries here in Connecticut.

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