Between groceries and restaurants, Americans are spending more of their income on food than they have in 30 years.
That’s according to the latest data from the USDA, which shows that U.S. consumers spent more than 11% of their disposable income on eating — whether at home or at a restaurant — in 2022, the highest percentage since 1991.
“This is really a metric that’s about the share of our disposable personal income which the USDA tracks, and which recently was at essentially a 31-year high,” Jesse Newman, food reporter for the Wall Street Journal, told CBS News.
Experts say painfully high food prices, and ongoing inflation more generally, help explain why many Americans are down on the economy despite low unemployment, rising wages and steady economic growth. Inflation is expected to continue slowing this year, with the National Association for Business Economists on Monday forecasting that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — a basket of common goods and services — will decline to an annual rate of 2.4% this year, compared with 4.1% in 2023 and 8% in 2022.
If Moto’s experience is the same as what I’ve seen, choosing delivery over purchasing in person doesn’t just add a delivery charge, but also increases prices across the board, and then adds a service charge for delivery.
I suppose the argument for groceries is that an employee’s time is spent collecting the goods before the delivery method. But in a fast food scenario where everything is made to order, regardless of dine-in, dine-out, drive-thru, or delivery, an increased price point across the board, before the delivery surcharge, is tough to accept. Though I understand that if restaurants aren’t managing their own deliveries, they are often embedding third-party delivery app charges in their prices.
All of that to say, while I understand the arguments, I also know there’s profit being made at each step, and they can only keep gouging for so long before the whole house of cards comes crumbling down.