Why Are Grocery Store Prices So High

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instagram.com/teenaccounts. >> If you know your party's extension, you. may dial it now. To speak to someone in customer service, press 12. Bakery, 13. Deli or hot foods, 14. Meat or seafood, 15. >> From The New York Times, I'm Natalie. Kitroeff. This is The Daily. >> This is Mark Iacono. >> For a while now, my colleague, Daily. producer Jessica Chung, has been. reporting on or trying to report on.

grocery prices. >> had a moment right now to talk about the. kind of nature of shopping right now and. why everything is so expensive. >> Um that you would have to contact our. corporate office for any information. like that. >> It started after COVID, when inflation. and supply shortages sent prices. soaring. Then came [music] Ukraine, tariffs, and now the Strait of Hormuz, which has pushed prices even higher. >> concern, Mr. President, about the latest. inflation number, which we had. >> No, I love it. The numbers were great.

You know what I really love? I love the. inflation numbers. >> So, she's been calling stores to talk. about that. Trying to find a grocery. store manager who could talk about how. they and the people who shop in their. store are dealing with round after round. of rising food prices. >> [music]. >> and how high those prices could possibly. go. >> And who would you recommend that I talk. to at the corporate level? >> Uh Brad. Talk to Brad. >> I was told that this is the number for. Brad. >> Um he [music] is in a meeting at the. moment. Um.

I can take a message and he when he gets. out he can. uh. you know, call you back. >> Okay. But a lot of the grocery stores. she'd reached out to never got back to. her. And the big grocery chains referred. her to people far removed from the. shelves. And it seemed like their job. was to not answer her questions. >> I would love to, but unfortunately I'm. not allowed to. I'm not really allowed. to say anything. >> You should be able to just email. media@whfoods.com. >> You can always call 1-800-KROGERS.

>> Your call is being transferred. >> [music]. >> But then. >> Hello. >> she reached a small store and this one. manager picked up the phone. >> wonder if you'd be open to a. conversation about that. >> Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I would love to. >> Today we go to his grocery store in. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to finally get. some answers. It's Monday, July 13th.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a part of. town called East End sits the aptly. named East End Food Co-op. Stuck away in a street without a lot of. foot traffic. Its storefront is lined with grocery. carts. There's a display of leafy potted. herbs and organic seedless watermelons. going for $18.99. Like most food cooperatives, there is no. CEO. There are no shareholders. It's owned by the very people who shop. there. 17,000 members.

Though anyone off the street can buy. their groceries here. >> No, we're not getting that. What that. actually is. >> On a Monday morning in the middle of. June, I walked into the produce section. >> I'm talking to shoppers about grocery. prices. >> Okay, go ahead. >> Um. >> It was not hard to get people to talk. about prices and how high they are. >> noticed grocery prices go up? >> Oh, most definitely. >> To the extreme. >> Oh, indeed. It's the meteoric in a way. nasty. >> It's so kind of sad walking into the. store sometimes.

>> I've heard from everybody in my family. that they're going up. And then I bring. Seth home and he's like, "This is. outrageous.". >> It's not just at this co-op. It's. everywhere. Prices are soaring at an. unusually high rates. According to the Bureau of Labor. Statistics, since 2020, grocery prices. have climbed by nearly 30%. at a rate way faster than before the. pandemic. >> This lettuce is $4. >> Mhm. >> That seems like a lot. I would have. expected like $2.99. >> Today, the price of watermelons is.

$18.99. >> I saw that out front. I was surprised. that was the. >> [laughter]. >> advertised price. >> I thought that was like a misprint. I. just was shocked. >> red peppers. >> red [music] peppers. >> god, they're like almost $10 this. morning. >> $10 for [music] one? >> Yeah. >> per pound. >> So, one. >> Okay, we're weighing it on the scale. It's almost a pound. So, this is almost. $10 for one red pepper. >> Just a few weeks ago, it was like seven. or eight.

And over the winter, it was. >> [music]. >> six. And it just keeps going up. >> Is there one item where you've seen. prices go up and your jaw just drop? [music]. >> Yes, steak. >> steak. >> beef. >> beef. >> beef. >> Used to be like you can get two nice. steaks for [music] about 20, $25. It's. like 45 and up now. >> And is that just soaring you? >> T-bone [music]. >> uh. >> All kinds of steak. >> yeah. >> So, I've been seeing the family size. bag, I think it's like seven or eight. bucks now. It's not a family size not at. all. >> It's shrunk and the price has gone up. >> Yep. >> I don't like to think about it because.

it's scary. >> Yeah. >> So, I don't think about it. So, I don't. pay that much attention, [music] but I'm. trying to buy less. >> Yeah, and then I don't really do a good. job of calculating how much I'm. spending. >> Now, is that like a psychological. defense mechanism or is that. >> bit. A little bit. >> I take this shopping so I don't This is. my worry pepper. >> Oh, this is kind of a stress ball in the. form of a green pepper. >> Have you noticed the rise in prices.

change your habits at all? Like I'll get. less cheese. I'll get less meat. I'll. get less chocolate. >> Designer ice cream, that's long gone. >> What's the designer ice cream you like? >> Oh, well, the Haagen-Dazs, that kind of. stuff. >> Like the brambleberry crisp. >> I don't see ice cream. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> [laughter]. >> We don't need it. And see what we can. carry is what we're buying. >> Oh, no more baskets. >> No more baskets. >> What's your understanding of why this is. happening? >> Uh. My understanding of why.

is that. Okay, I'm. This is It's such a big question that my. mind is sort of shutting down in this. moment. >> Who shits to make us pay more? I don't. know why stuff is so expensive. That. doesn't make any sense to me. >> I haven't done the research, I guess, on. the details of the why. >> You know, I don't know exactly how, but. I just know it is. I don't super follow. the news. I can't really say. >> [music]. >> why it's happening. >> When you see all these prices go up,

does it raise any questions for you? >> Yeah, I always think like, "What is this. going to look like in 5 years, 10 years? How this will affect our children?". >> As shoppers, we know that a lot of. factors go into the prices we see. But. how many of us can name them? >> Hey Tyler, good job. >> Yeah, Jess. Nice to meet you. >> How's it going? >> Good, yeah. So far, so good. You know, Monday morning. >> That's what I came here to talk to Tyler. Kulp about. For nearly 12 years, he's. been at East End Food Co-op, most.

recently as general manager. And he's. that one guy who picked up the phone. >> Growing seasons impacted by climate. change. >> Climate change. >> Tyler's 44 years old. And like a lot of. people in this part of town, he's got. tattoos and is a food lover. In fact, he's got a newsletter, Garlic. and Roses. He says yes, rising prices are driven by. a bunch of factors. It's rising temperatures, it's supply. chain issues.

But the latest reason for why prices. have accelerated so much is the war in. Iran. At the time we talked, the US and Iran. had reached an agreement to reopen the. Strait of Hormuz. But it was unclear what open meant, how. freely traffic would flow through the. strait. Since then, the US and Iran have resumed. fighting even as they engage in peace. talks. So the price of oil continues to. yo-yo up and down. And even if the price of oil manages to. stay down, Tyler says shoppers won't be. feeling a sense of relief anytime soon.

But before I had him explain all that, >> from an earlier age, like how did you. know you wanted to go into the grocery. store business? >> I asked him how he became an expert on. this. >> My grandparents owned a Baskin Robbins. I can remember waiting on customers, scooping ice cream, making change. >> He grew up just a few hours east of here. as a literal kid in an ice cream store. >> have to like put my whole body on the. rim of the case so I could balance, scoop ice cream, and I loved it. It was.

so much fun and I loved. >> He liked talking to customers, seeing. what flavors people liked and in what. seasons. And then he grew to develop an interest. in a pretty esoteric topic, supply. chains. >> Like I'm fascinated by the food supply. chain and logistics of getting the. strawberries from Mexico or California. to Pennsylvania in January or February. It's tedious and unique, but I found it. fascinating so I paid attention. >> To be a grocery store manager, managing. the margins of thousands of products on. the shelves is to be a statistician, a.

haggler, and also a culture. anthropologist. >> People are more inclined to buy an item. if there's three or five displayed in a. line. >> Like many other grocery store managers, Tyler's job is to drive sales. To do that, he's a hand in designing the. whole experience a shoppers have, down. to all the little details. >> There's lots of studies and everything. always say if you get berries in. people's baskets, they buy more of other. things as well. >> Interesting. >> [music]. >> Okay, so now I wonder if you might be. able to take me around the store and.

give me a little tour. Okay, cool. >> Hey, how are you Nicholas? Good to see. you. >> Thanks, good to see you. >> There are ways East End [music] feels. different than most other grocery. stores, like the way it hits you when. you first walk in. >> I love the bulk herb section cuz I feel. like it gives every co-op a unique. smell. This smell is so nice. >> I feel like the dominant smell right now. is like turmeric, maybe. >> Absolutely, yeah. Depending on where we. go, we walk into Whole Foods, it smells. like their seafood department. That. dominates everything. And. >> In addition to bulk herbs, or bulk.

[music] nuts, grains and oats, there's. kombucha on tap. >> Keystone Cultures is a local kombuchery. >> There's Dr. Bronner's soap, available in. a buffet of these big pump bottles. >> Oh, on draft. >> Yep, these are freshly ground peanut. butter and almond butter, coffee, olive. oil. We have. That's bulk sugar. We get these in 50-lb. bags. And yeah, you got all your normal. grocery [music] store items, pasta. You. want box macaroni and cheese, we have. it. It's just that it's going to meet. our product standards and not have dyes. or other chemical additives,

preservatives that aren't up to co-op. snuff. >> [music]. >> So, shopping at the co-op is a bit. different than other places nearby. It's healthier, maybe a little hippier, but that's not to say it's yuppier. You may have to pay a little bit more. for the quality stuff, but I met all. kinds of people shopping here. A home health aide, barber, couple of. people on SNAP benefits. But it turns out it's maybe the most. ideal place to look at rising food. prices.

Because unlike bigger chains like. Kroger, which admitted to raising prices. on certain items beyond the rate of. inflation in 2024, the co-op model, which is owned by the very people who. shop there, means they are more. motivated to keep prices low than they. are to turn a profit. And without the scale or storage. capacity of a big box store, they can't. negotiate buying at higher volumes. So, the prices at the co-op can actually be. the most transparent prices. And they. give us a good look into how the war in.

Iran caused prices to surge. >> Last week there was an inflation report. that showed that inflation was up by. like 4.2%. >> And you got an email. >> Oh, yeah. I remember. >> Tyler brings his laptop over, and on the. sales floor, next to the prepared food. section, he shows me an email. forecasting price increases for July. >> This was the national co-op warning that. there is a higher number of cost and. price suggestion changes than normal in. a month because. >> had released its latest inflation report.

showing the highest rate of inflation in. 3 years. Grocery prices aren't rising quite as. fast, up 2.7% over the past year. But the message from on high is that. Tyler would be forced to raise prices. around the store yet again. >> So, essentially national sends you this. spreadsheet with hundreds of items with. their SKUs, and they say, "We're going. to have to raise the price on this." And. you have discretion over whether. actually we don't do that because that. item needs to stay low to attract.

>> Yes, exactly. >> And in July, where are the biggest. markups? >> [music]. >> This apricots has been a huge one. The. bulk. dried [music] apricots. >> is going up. >> Yeah, 140 over 6 months. That is its. average change. >> Wow, the average change for your bulk. apricots. >> 146%. >> Sour pickles [music]. up 83%. Sliced peaches up 97%. Milk.

73%. matcha 73%. >> Yeah. Bagels and English muffins 10%. that's high it translates [music] to 41. cents per unit. I mean that's people. will notice that. >> Tofu's up 122% [music]. >> Soybeans cuz that's been a big thing. with fertilizer and most of them come. from China. So all the tofu stuff is. going to be getting very high and. getting higher. [music]. I think over 20% to me is high in a. 6-month period. >> Overall these percent [music] increases.

are attributable to. >> Yes. All the inflationary factors. Yeah. Yep. >> to world events. So prices around the store are going up. fast. >> Well, I wonder if you can Okay, we can. continue walking through the store and. in particular if you can walk me through. certain items where the price has gone. up because. of the war in Iran. >> Yeah. >> So where would that be in the store? >> So we've got in this section. >> I asked Tyler to walk me through the.

store and show me how specific items. have been impacted by the war in Iran. >> We have a canola, safflower, sunflower, all of these types of oils. >> And explain to me the journey it took to. get here and how it arrived at that. sticker price. >> Here's your standard Field Day vegetable. oil. Field Day's our everyday low price. brand. Those went up 5% in the same. month. Cost more to transport. It's coming from. farther distances and also with fuel. prices some of the olive oils like Equal. Exchange, you know, these are all from.

the West Bank and so you factor in that. conflict and then also the. transportation and fuel costs getting. here. >> And will it continue to go up? >> Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. Glass is heavier. so that costs more to you know, transport. Um same like beer companies. like everybody went to aluminum cans. instead of glass bottles because of the. weight on on truck. There's a value to. keeping it in glass. It's a better. product experience than plastic, but at. a certain point they might have to make. that decision that because it's so much. heavier to transport, they might have to.

make decisions. >> Your glass olive oil is the most. expensive items on the shelf. At like. $16.99, $23.99, but the ones in aluminum $15.99. >> Yeah, one glass. jar could travel crisscross the country. like four times, you know? >> In theory, olive oil could be produced. in the West Bank and bottled in. California, traveled by freight to be. warehoused in Illinois before it is. driven down the Pennsylvania Turnpike to. this grocery store. All of that burns up a ton of fuel.

>> And then over here to the canned beans, are the prices for beans going up? Or. anything with aluminum? >> Aluminum, I think it's going to be the. next one. Like. >> And then there's the cost of raw. materials that go into packaging. >> Like soda, anything that's packaged in. aluminum can, that's going to be the. next thing I think that sees a big price. increase. >> And why aluminum? Last year, after Trump imposed a 50%. tariff on aluminum imports, American. buyers started sourcing more aluminum. from the Middle East. Only to find that.

after the US attacked Iran, their new. aluminum supply was stuck. Because shipping through the strait. became impossible, some smelters in the. Middle East, factories where aluminum is. made, stopped production altogether. Others, like one in Abu Dhabi, were. directly damaged by Iranian strikes. But even as the US and Iran continue. with peace talks, it will take a long. time before supply is back to normal. The site in Abu Dhabi will have to be. restored, and for the companies that.

stopped production, a frozen line could. take months to restart. Which means when. the cost of aluminum drives up the cost. of your olive oil in the coming months, it will stay that way for a while. >> So, where are we headed now? But Tyler. says there's really one item that. reflects the forces leading to higher. prices better than any other. >> to head over to our meat section. >> And that's beef. >> Beef prices have gone up tremendously. It takes the most resources to have cows. fed basically. More so than, you know, chicken or seafood, anything like that.

So, beef is usually the first place we. see a dramatic increase in. 80/20 grass-fed beef, $9.99 for a 1-lb. package. >> Of ground beef, yeah. >> beef. When we introduced that brand, it. was always $6.99. And then in the last year, so not. necessarily strictly because of Iran, but all the fuel costs going up. Like. it's gone up $3 a pound. >> 3 bucks. >> the last year. So, you know, when you've. got land in somewhere in the United. States and you're raising a herd of.

cattle, it takes so much feed, okay? And. industrial agriculture, a lot of that is. coming from China. >> Mhm. >> And so, not only is it traveling a tremendous. distance and there's all the associated. fuel costs, but it's also getting stuck. in the Strait of Hormuz. China, India, huge producers of feed and fertilizer, and they all go through that straight. Same with oil. And then you have to then. ship your cows.

They go to a meat processing plant, which it's all on trucks. transporting it and then the packaging. So, at every point you're seeing an. increase in cost. >> And all that meat has to go into. plastic, >> which takes a lot of fuel. It takes. fuel, yeah. >> Takes fuel to make and ship. >> Yep. And then it all has to be cold, refrigerated or frozen the entire time. If it loses the cold chain, it's waste, it's garbage. >> And there is yet another thing driving. up costs. Dairy farmers are going dry. all across America.

Down on their luck, struggling with. their own price increases of running a. farm. The share of farmers declaring. bankruptcy has risen by 70% so far this. year. >> The next generation for a lot of these. farmers, they don't want to do it. They. see how hard it is. >> Here in Western Pennsylvania, Tyler's. own beef suppliers have quit the. business, meaning he now has to source. his beef from further away, which could. make his beef even more expensive. It's a problem for Tyler and his. customers, but it's also a problem for.

the Trump White House, which is doing. whatever it can to lower prices. Before the 4th of July weekend, a USDA. official pressured leading chain stores. like Kroger and Walmart to lower the. price of ground beef. Walmart dropped his price by 12%. But. this is just a temporary fix in the face. of declining supply, rising costs, and. unflagging demand for beef. >> This is our most shoplifted case in the. whole store. >> You're kidding me. >> Steaks and beef. Yep, we had to add a security guard in.

the morning. We only have one afternoon. through closing time. We had to add one. in the morning because it was getting. shoplifted multiple times in the. morning. >> Wow. Wow. >> I chased the guy down the street, which. we don't do, but I was like. this is. like you are. taking from our community, and it was. just it felt so blatant at that point. Like we literally he literally had like. a duffel bag, and I saw him standing. here just throwing beef and ground beef. and steaks and even like chickens into.

this duffel bag, and I tried to get him. to drop it, and he just bolted for the. door, and I was like. I'm going after this. Like I can't stop. >> And what happened? >> Well, I got like a block down the road, and then I was like this is stupid. Like. I don't want to get stabbed for. >> Yeah, yeah. So he got away. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> But this is like a jewelry heist. It's. the beef case. Yeah. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Wow. Tyler says it might be a while. before beef prices stabilize, just like. everything else. Economists have a name. for it. Rockets and feathers. Prices go up like rockets, but come down.

slowly like a feather. Because even if the straight reopens, and even if oil prices come down, disruption in the supply chain takes. time to readjust. And if a new normal is accepted and. there's no competition, manufacturers. tend to keep the prices artificially. high. And then if your grocery store buys in. large quantities with prices locked in. up to a year, they're stuck at that. price for the year. >> And I'll be curious to see where we go. to another store. A, I don't know what's.

in that ground beef, but I'm also. curious to see how much it costs at this. point even for like. lower quality conventional chemical. beef products. >> How much they're going for? >> Exactly. Yeah. Four new grocery stores. have opened within a 4-mile radius of. us. The price increases is driving more. people to the discount grocer. So, we. have an Aldi's less than a mile from. here. They at first didn't really have. much of an impact on us, but now that. the food inflation has.

reared up again in a noticeable way, we. are seeing more and more people choosing. lower quality product at a discount. grocer for more of their basket. >> Tyler says he's already watched more of. his customers shop at Aldi. And this is part of a bigger trend he. reads in all the industry reports. A few years ago, even as prices were. rising, customers would do their. shopping at multiple stores, hitting. each for their best deals and products. But now they're more likely to do almost. all their shopping at one place, at a.

discount supermarket, and not places. like Eege's and. >> And you can't survive if customers are. just coming in for one or two products. >> Like long term, no. But what why would I. have all this stuff? >> If shoppers start to see Eege's and as a. place to go to for just a few items, and. not the bulk of their groceries, he's not sure how it continues to. survive. >> Now, I understand that part of your job. is also scoping out the prices of your. competitors like Aldi.

Would you bring me on to one of those. >> Yes, oh, I'd love to. That'd be really. fun. >> One of those trips, yeah. >> Yeah, it would be my pleasure. >> Okay. Now, how discreet do we have to. be? >> They may have like. a media policy. >> Okay, well, then maybe I will switch. into different recording gear. That's. just like a little bit more discreet. >> Sure. >> Um but maybe we should take a break. I. would like to eat something. >> [music]. >> After the break, Tyler and Jess scope. out the competition. >> [music]. >> We'll be right back.

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street. Next to a vacated Rite Aid sits the. Aldi. >> Well, this Aldi looks really spanking. new. >> It is. >> Tyler routinely scopes this place out. since it opened a year and a half ago. All right, let's go in. >> Let's do it. I hate seeing a messy store for $1.49. >> for blackberries? Which That's not a bad. price. >> No, it's a great price. >> For Georgian grown blackberries. >> And honestly, they're probably very. good. Can you get a nice little moldy. >> Oh, yeah. That's a moldy peach.

>> Peach, yeah. >> Inside the bag. >> Maybe they're fantastic peaches, but. Aldi's doesn't have employees who would. be culling this and keeping it nice. Whereas we have staff who part of their. job in the produce department is to like. get rid of stuff like that because. that's Nobody wants to see that. That's. their whole model is like no labor. They. just drop pallets on the floor. The. bananas they don't even take out of the. box. >> This is a very different shopping. experience than at Tyler's store. It's much bigger. The aisles are wider.

No frills. As a shopper, you'd be hard-pressed to. find someone to help you locate the. parsley. The few workers we did see were clearing. the sales floor of empty boxes where. products were shipped in. And no workers. were needed to wrangle carts. You rent a. grocery cart for a quarter and get that. quarter back when you return it. No. loose carts, no extra workers. Aldi told me in a statement that all of. this is meant to drive down costs and. lower prices. A strategy that seems to. be working.

Aldi is the fastest growing grocery. store chain in the country with 180 new. stores underway. >> This watermelon, what is. 4.50? I can't even see it cuz there's. some mush over the price. >> It's like 4.65 maybe. And it's a good. looking watermelon. Honestly, it's got a. nice sun spot. I bet it's tasty. >> And yours is going for $19 per. watermelon out front. >> Probably the local organic ones, yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> This is your banana faces. >> Everything's in boxes. >> Yep, and everything's in plastic.

>> I mean, maybe I mean, there's a broken. egg inside the fridge. That's just yolk. all over. >> [laughter]. >> Um. but I mean, for $1.46. a dozen, $1.46 a dozen, that is. >> hard to beat. >> I've never seen anything that low. >> Yeah. [clears throat]. They're buying a ton in volume. >> Mhm. >> for as many stores as they could get the. product into to get that deal. Like, you. may never see the same bag of chips. twice. See what's over here and then and look.

at their beef. So, we talked about that. before. Yeah. >> Let's see how low they can go. When we arrive at the beef case, we see. a wide selection. Some even going for $4.79 a pound. >> Yeah, that looks busted. >> This is the kind of beef Tyler didn't. seem threatened by until. >> I'm curious what they. >> We both looked up at the top shelf. >> 100% grass-fed. And he reached overhead for a package, a. pound of organic ground beef going for.

$7.29. >> Organic grass-fed. >> No, yeah, it is it is organic, yeah. I mean, that's tough, you know. >> I guess, how do you feel seeing that? >> I mean, it's disappointing. I mean, I'm. glad that they're offering an organic. option, grass-fed to their folks. There. are other considerations with especially. with meat, like humanely raised that. this doesn't talk about. Our standards. include humanely raised, grass-fed, grass-finished also because I mean, in.

theory, you could give this cow one. blade of grass and say it was grass-fed. It doesn't say that's the only thing it. ever ate its whole life, you know. So, that's a consideration. But. >> What are you feeling when you see that. they're able to offer, you know, we. don't really know how comparable, but to. a consumer, pretty comparable products. for. >> Right. For a little bit. >> a $2.70. less. >> A lot of people buy ground beef. It's a. staple for a lot of meat-eating. customers, and it's a very.

price-sensitive category. It's very much. one that people are attuned to. >> Like eggs and milk. >> Yep, exactly. It's hard to say. We just got to stay on. top of it all, you know? You can't. slouch. That's what That's what this. says to me. Like, we haven't lost. I'm a. little surprised at the volume of the. organic beef. Like I said, that and. steaks, that that's a little bit of a. new thing for me. >> Yeah, there's like a whole shelf. >> Yeah, I saw it on the last year. recently. >> of their selection of beef is organic. >> Yeah. >> Does seeing this make you think you. might want to lower your beef prices and.

then mark up something else in that. store? And what would that be? >> Yeah, possibly. That could be a. solution, or whatever my advertised. deals items are that week, add a dime to. that for each product instead of the. biggest discount possible, I retain some. of that. >> Figuring out how to compete with all. these $7.29 grass-fed organic ground. beef requires a little math. Tyler could raise the price on his lamb, but he doesn't sell enough lamb to make. up for what he's losing in beef. So, he.

could raise the price of a couple of. other items around the store. Or, normally he wouldn't have enough. storage to buy ground beef at a high. volume and its lowest price. But, he. could bet that with a promotional price, he could sell beef fast enough that he. wouldn't have to worry about storing it. for long. >> We're not going to drive all these out. of the organic ground beef market, but. you have to try is the thing. It's like. you try you use all the tools in your. tool kit and regain a little bit of that. ground. All right. Anything else in here, or I.

think we're good. >> And with that key bit of intel, our. reconnaissance trip was complete. The. exit may be over. >> Oh, yeah. They force you to go through. the cash registers. >> Oh, yeah. >> You got to break out of this Aldi's. >> After a visit to Aldi, Tyler is figuring. out a way to lower the price of his. ground beef. >> [music]. >> by raising the price of his frozen beef. and negotiating a lower rate with his. beef supplier. He's hoping to offer his.

ground beef at $8.99, a dollar lower than what he'd been. charging. It's not the $7.29 at Aldi, [music] but. Tyler says it's close enough to compete. and low enough to put on flyers as a. [music] promotion item to customers. That's just one item in a store of. thousands. Right now, [music] he's putting in. pre-orders for turkeys that would lock. him in at current high inflationary. prices, >> [music]. >> not knowing what he can sell them for. come November. It's a high-wire act balancing these.

prices with the hope that it all adds. up. And then I think about the customers at. both East End and at Aldi. who ask me if the cost of groceries. [music]. will ever go down. What will happen in 5 or 10 years? And. what would it mean for their children? Tyler can't [music] say for certain, but. he says cost going up is just how it. always goes. Even if we see inflation numbers go. down, it doesn't translate to normal. food prices. >> [music]. >> It just means prices rise slower.

And if one of the fallouts of the war in. Iran is that a new fee will be imposed. on every ship passing through the. strait, >> [music]. >> he says those costs will continue to be. passed on to customers. who have long gotten the message that. they would just have to [music] adapt. >> Customers, this assistance is needed at. the register machine. Customers, this. assistance is needed at the register. machine. Thank you. >> Do you blame anyone? Like do you want. someone to do something about this?

>> There's nothing that can be done about. that. You got to bite the bullet in a. way. Just got to I got to find a way to. come up with the money, you know? >> I'm sure it's like 50,000 reasons and. excuses why we're slammed with this. >> What are you supposed to do? Price go. >> It goes up. It's just the way life is, you know what I mean? So, you have to be. able to adapt to it. >> A lot of moms adapt. We're resilient. >> to adapt, you know? Yeah, you got to. adapt. >> Are you finding that you have to make.

certain sacrifices to make ends meet? >> Cut back what I eat. I eat I pack my. lunch now for 4 months. I eat watermelon. every day for lunch. >> For 4 months you ate watermelon for. lunch? >> do every day, yeah. I cut bread out. >> Yeah, watermelon with an an apple, yeah, and my water. Yeah, you get adjusted to. it. >> And how much watermelon are we talking. for lunch? >> Four or five nice pieces. I put in the. containers about that big and I put that. in there and then I have an apple and. then I have a bottle of water. >> The food that I can eat is very limited.

I can't just get peanut butter. I have. to get like sunflower seed butter, which. is extremely expensive. So, sometimes I. just won't eat. >> You just [laughter] won't eat? >> Yeah, so like I've lost a lot of weight. >> How long has this been going for that. you feel like you have to skimp? >> Uh it's It's been quite a while. >> I have kids that are cheerleaders. I. have boys that play sports. They had. practice, so they were hungrier than. usual and. my kids often are like, "Can I have some. more?" I'm just like, "Sure." And that's.

your portion sometimes. But then I also survive off of something. small. >> Like what? >> go eat ramen noodles or something. I'll. make them dinner and then I'll go eat. their chicken nuggets or something. >> [laughter]. >> You can't eat like I used to. Like you. have to like space it out a lot. Don't. run out of food. >> You mean eat eat less? >> Yeah. >> Oh, wow. >> Yeah, eat less and budget more. >> That seems like a real sacrifice and. real change. >> It is.

Sometimes try to eat once a day or just. twice. And then. >> Wow. >> Yeah. So. And not too much of portions. Just eat. just enough. >> Eat to not be entirely full, but just. eat just enough for your body to be. okay, basically. >> Have you ever had to do this in your. life? >> No. No. >> Always ate over ate. >> Yeah. >> [laughter]. >> Yeah, we do that. >> Yeah, you know. >> We try to uh make like pastas, chickpea. and rice.

>> Kind of saying like, >> Jackfruit burgers. And then we try. >> What's your guys' relationship to each. other? >> [laughter]. >> We have two teenage boys. >> Two teenage boys. >> 12 and 14. >> They eat a lot. >> Yeah. They eat more than often, and. that's why we have to sacrifice or, you. know, eating as much because they need. the nutrition. >> I see. I see. >> Like worried of, you know, not being. able to provide for my family or that we. are going to be okay pay for today.

>> [music]. [music]. >> A number of grocery store chains, including Walmart, Target, and Costco, recently announced that they're cutting. prices on some of their key products. >> [music]. >> But even with those deals, Americans'. grocery bills are unlikely to fall.

>> [music]. >> According to the Department of. Agriculture, prices across all food. categories are expected to [music] rise. 3.2% this year. >> [music]. >> We'll be right back. >> This podcast is supported by Instagram. >> [music]. >> Instagram teen accounts default teens. into automatic protections for who can. contact them and the content they can. see. Explore teen accounts and all of our.

ongoing work to protect [music] teens. online at instagram.com/teenaccounts. >> Hi, I'm Solana Pine. I'm the director of. video at The New York Times. For years, my team has made videos that bring you. closer to big news moments. Videos by. Times journalists that have the. expertise to help you understand what's. going on. Now, we're bringing those. videos to you in the watch [music] tab. in The New York Times app. It's a. dedicated video feed where you know you. can trust what you're seeing. All the. videos there are free for anyone to. watch. You don't have to be a.

subscriber. Download The New York Times. app to start watching. >> Here's what else you need to know today. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina. Republican who [music] epitomized his. party's transformation from outright. hostility toward Donald Trump to. flattering [music] embrace of him, has. died at the age of 71. >> He's a race-baiting, xenophobic, [music]. religious bigot. He doesn't represent my party. He.

doesn't represent the values that the. men and women who wear the uniform are. fighting for. >> In 2015, as a Republican candidate for. [music] president, Graham led the charge. against Trump, calling him a {quote}. kook, crazy, [music] and unfit for. office. But once Trump won the presidency, Graham suddenly became his eager ally. Our colleague, [music] Mark Leibovich, pushed Graham to explain that abrupt. pivot in an episode of The Daily back in. 2019.

>> You seem a little sick and tired of the. what's what's happening to Lindsey. Graham question. >> Yeah, well, it did it's just like yeah, like okay. >> Right. >> Nothing from my point of view. If you. know anything about me, it'd be odd for. me not to do this. >> Mhm. Now, what is this? The work with him or. >> try to be relevant. >> Try to be relevant. >> Graham told Leibovich that his. partnership with Trump was [music]. pragmatic and allowed him to achieve his. own political goals, which over time. [music] included defending Ukraine. against Russia.

Graham's office said that he died from a. brief [music] illness shortly after. returning from his latest trip to. Ukraine. And attacks between Iran and the US. continued [music] to escalate over the. weekend with no signs of progress to. salvage the ceasefire. After the US military said [music] that. Iran had attacked another container ship. in the Strait of Hormuz overnight. between Saturday and Sunday, US forces. carried out some of their most intense. strikes [music] on Iran in weeks.

US Central Command said it had hit about. 140 Iranian military targets. [music]. In response, Iran attacked several. US-allied Persian Gulf states, though. the US military said that those [music]. strikes didn't cause significant damage. The Iranian government said it also had. closed the Strait [music] of Hormuz to. shipping, though President Trump. disputed that claim. >> [music]. >> Today's episode was produced by Jessica.

Chung [music]. with help from Michelle Banjo. It was. edited by Michael Benoist with help from. [music] Paige Cowitt and Patricia. Willens. Fact checked by Will Peischel. Fact checked [music] by Will Peischel. and contains music by Marion Lozano. Our theme [music] music is by Wonderly. This episode was engineered by Alyssa. Moxley. Special thanks [music] to Ben Castleman, Kim Sieverson, Kevin Draper, and Anna. Foley.

>> [music]. >> That's it for The Daily. I'm Natalie. Kitroeff. See you tomorrow. >> This podcast is supported by Instagram. >> [music]. >> Instagram teen accounts default teens. into automatic protections for who can.

contact them and the content they can. see. >> [music]. >> Explore teen accounts and all of our. ongoing work to protect teens online at. instagram.com/teenaccounts. [music].