Phil Lempert
Verified- Editor and Founder, Supermarket Guru
- Contributor, Forbes
- Co-Founder, Retail Plate
- Founder and Contributor, The Lempert Report
Santa Monica
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Articles by Phil Lempert
DoorDash Wants Instacart. It’s A Battle Over Dinner, Not Delivery.
UNITED STATES - APRIL 25: A DoorDash delivery person is seen in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, D.C., on Friday, April 25, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images Order a Papa John’s pie and Dunkin’ in the Walmart app tonight and the delivery person who brings it may also be carrying your paper towels Last Thursday DoorDash agreed to buy Instacart for about $17 billion, or $65 a share, at least three-quarters of it in cash.
Retail Plate-Cannabis Cafes
I’ve spent four decades walking supermarket aisles and restaurant floors trying to spot the next place food and commerce would collide, and I’ll admit this one caught me off guard: cannabis retailers in San Francisco are becoming my competition for the dinner hour. On July 23, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed an ordinance that gives San Francisco a legal framework for what supporters are calling Amsterdam-style cannabis cafés.
Retail Plate-Pullman Market
Most grocers add a dining room to a store. Emmer & Rye built a grocery store around its restaurants. Hy-Vee has built more than 100 sit-down Market Grilles into its stores, Whole Foods has offered in-store dining and drinks for years, and Wegmans has run table-service restaurants at its larger locations. Most of these built a dining room into an existing store. Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group did the opposite; they built a supermarket around restaurants.
Retail Plate-Why We Did This
“The food retail store, whether it’s a supermarket, convenience store, club store, mass merchandiser or specialty retailer, is becoming America’s most competitive restaurant. Most operators still aren’t treating it that way.” - Phil Lempert and Korry Stagnito We’ve spent decades at the center of food retail. Phil Lempert founded SupermarketGuru.com in 1994, spent more than a decade as food trends editor for NBC’s Today show and edits The Lempert Report on Substack.
Who's Right About Walmart’s Pricing?
Lindsay Owens was interviewed on NPR’s Life Kit, and it’s worth listening to the whole episode. Owens is an economist who runs the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive policy shop, and her new book, Gouged: The End of a Fair Price, makes the case that retailers are quietly building the machinery to charge each of us a different price for the same thing.
What A $7.99 Ham Sandwich Can Teach Grocers About Foodservice
Pullman Market in San Antonio Texas Robert Lerma At Pullman Market, day-old bread becomes croutons and cookies, off-cuts become pepperoni, and the restaurants send shoppers to the butcher counter. This is a grocer that thinks about food first. Everything from a thirty-day brine to making their own bone broth to showcasing not only the ranch their beef comes from but the type of cow but I haven’t stopped thinking about these since I got off the phone.
Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン）
青果業界の変遷を40年にわたり見てきたが、サツマイモほど3年連続で打撃を受けたカテゴリーは他に思いつかない。 感謝祭が迫っている。青果部門を運営する食品スーパーにとって、その日はすでに赤丸で囲まれている。例年、11月下旬には、多くの食卓にサツマイモのキャセロールが並ぶからだ。しかし今年の感謝祭は、少しあてが外れることになるかもしれない。サツマイモが不足しているためだ。この不足は、3年がかりで生じてきた問題だ。 米国産サツマイモの半分超を生産するノースカロライナ州、3年連続で苦境 ノースカロライナ州は1971年以来、全米のサツマイモ生産の過半数を占めてきた。生産が同州に集中しているため、不作の年は全国的な不足につながる。2024年にはハリケーン「ヘリーン」に加え、相次ぐ嵐が発生し、生産者によると収穫量は25〜30％減少した。ノースカロライナ・スイートポテト委員会も、州全体の単収が20〜30％落ち込んだとしている。...
AI Agents: Trusted or Transactional?
It’s an age-old story. Retailers are constantly seeking technology to solve their problems. Self-checkout was supposed to ease checkout lines. Amazon Go was supposed to make self-checkout obsolete. Neither transformed the store. But what has transformed? Major brands, including Target, Walmart, Ralph Lauren, Best Buy, Gap, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, have C-level AI executives. These brands are taking the future seriously.
Why You Could Have Trouble Finding Sweet Potatoes At Grocery Stores Soon
WASHINGTON, DC-October 28: Sweet Potato Casserole. (Photo by Scott Suchman/For the Washington Post) The Washington Post via Getty Images I’ve been watching produce categories cycle through booms and busts for four decades and I can’t think of many that have taken three straight hits the way sweet potatoes have. Thanksgiving is just 13 weeks from now.
Retail Media: Retail Hype
When does ubiquity mean invisibility? I notice it every time I walk a grocery store: video screens. They’re at the entrance, above the deli case, at the checkout lane, and there are more of them being installed every day. Nothing about this is an intentional network to entertain shoppers or teach them something important about the foods they are about to buy. Why is retail media making its own headlines?
Cannabis Dispensaries Taking Dinner Reservations
On July 23, Mayor Daniel Lurie signed an ordinance that gives San Francisco a legal framework for what supporters are calling “Amsterdam-style cannabis cafés.” It takes effect at midnight on August 23, and 66 qualifying cannabis retailers will be able to apply for a new café permit that lets them serve food and nonalcoholic beverages and even host live entertainment. The timing is great.
The CPI Says Inflation Is Cooling; Your Customer’s Shopping Cart Says Otherwise
The government’s favorite number leaves out the one trick the food industry has mastered Wall Street cheered the July 14th Consumer Price Index report. Headlines: CPI fell 0.4% in June which was the sharpest monthly drop since April 2020, and the annual rate cooled to 3.5% from May’s 4.2%. Energy did the heavy lifting, with gasoline and fuel oil each dropping more than 9% for the month. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, was flat.
The Hidden Threat of the Cyclospora Outbreak
Americans are getting panicky about the fresh lettuce they eat. Let’s start with what we know so far. The Food & Drug Administration traceback investigators identified Taylor Farms de Mexico as the source of shredded iceberg lettuce tied to a cyclospora outbreak that has now sickened over 1,600 confirmed people and hospitalized 94 across Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Public health officials say the true multistate case count nationwide could approach 7,000.
Kroger’s Consolidation Polycrisis - The Robin Report
I’ve written a lot about how the Polycrisis Shopper, the consumer who is juggling inflation, tariffs, GLP-1-driven changes in eating, and general economic anxiety all at once is reshaping how and where people buy food. Kroger announced that it is buying Giant Eagle, the beloved, family-owned Pittsburgh grocer, for $1.65 billion: $1.25 billion in cash, plus roughly $400 million in assumed liabilities.
What The U.S. And Iran Deal Means For Your Grocery Bill
Woman looks shocked at a paper check in a grocery supermarket price increase and inflation. Upset woman in a supermarket viewing receipts looking at her shopping receipt and shocked about the price getty Well, it finally happened. After 111 days of war, a closed Strait of Hormuz, and grocery bills that have made every American wince at the checkout line, the United States and Iran signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding on June 17th at the Palace of Versailles. There are the headlines.
PFAS: A Clear and Present Danger
On May 18, the Environmental Protection Agency — whose stated core mission is protecting human health and the environment — proposed repealing federal limits on four types of “forever chemicals” in our drinking water. It also announced it will push compliance deadlines for PFOA and PFOS, the two most notorious of forever chemicals, all the way out to 2031! How is that protecting human health and the environment, you might ask?
Why Loyalty Is the New Front Door of Retail Health
A Dispatch from the 2026 Nourishing Change Conference… There are conferences you attend, and conferences that actually make you think differently. The third annual Nourishing Change Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 2 through 4 was the latter, and the industry needs to pay attention. More than 1,200 leaders from science, retail, health systems, technology, and public policy gathered at the Iowa Events Center, co-hosted for the first time by both Kroger Health and Hy-Vee.
The World Cup Is Coming To Your Grocery Store
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - JUNE 11: Detailed view of the 2026 World Cup trophy during the unveiling of the countdown clock 1 year ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at General Prim on June 11, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Cristopher Rogel Blanquet/Getty Images) Getty Images How billions in beverage marketing dollars are about to reshape what American consumers drink, eat, and spend.
The Dairy-Deli Of Tomorrow Starts Today
I grew up in the dairy-deli business. My father ran a food brokerage that specialized in it, and before I ever knew what a Nielsen report was, I was learning the rhythms of the case. The particular logic of how you merchandise specialty cheese next to sliced meats, the way a well-lit deli counter could stop a shopper cold. Back then, the only use for kale was to add some greenery to the perimeter of the deli case.
Retail Fraud: A Detective Noir Crime Story
The city never sleeps, and neither does the con. I’m no Philip Marlowe but I’ve been working the grocery beat for more than 30 years. I’ve walked every aisle, shaken hands with every brand manager from Bentonville to Dubai and watched the supply chain twist itself into knots that would make a sailor blush. But lately, something darker is moving through the food world — and it’s not a new pathogen or a supply disruption. It’s old-fashioned true crime that shows up as shocking greed.
There’s a $1 Trillion Opportunity You Don’t Know About
I’ve spent more than three decades watching the grocery industry wrestle with shrink, markdown strategy, and the relentless pressure to move product before it expires. What I’ve rarely seen — not from executives, investors, nor policymakers — is a clear-eyed reckoning with what happens after the food leaves the store. And then there’s the food that doesn’t leave at all.
Food Allergy Shoppers: The High-Value Customers You’re Still Underserving
You probably lost one today. Maybe more than one. A shopper pushed her cart through your store, read a label on one of your private-brand products, found the allergen information vague or missing, and quietly put it back. No complaint, no manager conversation. Just a decision – made in about four seconds – that your store was no longer safe. She left with a smaller basket than she planned, and she’s already texting her food allergy parent group about it.
Retail’s Biggest CEO Decision Should Be Whether To Hire Inside Or Out
Executive expressing opinions to colleagues on management team in conference room. getty Retail just lived through its most turbulent CEO cycle in a generation. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, retail companies reported 41 CEO exits through August 2025 — a 116% increase from the same period a year earlier — making retail the top industry for CEO turnover.
The Restaurant Industry Is Handing Grocery Retailers A Gift
A waitress holding plates of food in the Dairy King restaurant. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Universal Images Group via Getty Images There’s a competitive shift underway in American food spending, and the evidence is sitting in plain sight. Toast’s Menu Price Monitor, which draws on transaction data from more than 164,000 restaurant locations across the United States, tracks real menu pricing for the items Americans order most.
Roma Tomatoes Are Expensive Right Now And What You Can Do About It
FEBRUARY 26, 2014. CRISTO REY, SINALOA, MEXICO. Teenage migrant farm workers pick ripe Roma tomatoes in Cristo Rey, Sinaloa, Mexico. Paulina (left) age 15 and her brother Pablo Angel, age 12 follow the harvest with their families. (Photo by Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Trade wars, a war in Iran, and spiking diesel have converged in your produce aisle. Here’s how to push back.
Kroger vs. Walmart: The War Grocery Didn’t Anticipate
In the annals of competitive intelligence, few appointments in the history of American retail have been as strategically loaded as the one Kroger’s board made on February 9, 2026.
Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン）
今日、近所のスーパーマーケットでオリーブオイルを1本手に取ってみてほしい。産地はスペイン、イタリア、チュニジア、あるいはギリシャである可能性が高い。そして、その価格が近く大幅に上がる可能性も高い。イラン情勢は、台所の定番を地政学の犠牲者に変えた。多くの米国の消費者は、それが迫っていることをほとんど知らない。 米国は現在、世界で2番目にオリーブオイルを消費する国（スペインに次ぐ）で、年間およそ38万〜40万トンを消費している。だが国内生産は主にカリフォルニアに集中し、その需要の約4％しか賄えていない。米国で使われるオリーブオイルの95％以上は現在も輸入品だ。サラダにかけ、パスタの仕上げに使い、毎日手に取るオリーブオイルのほぼすべてを、地中海地域に依存しているのだ。過去6年間、スペイン、イタリア、チュニジア、トルコが米国向けの主要供給国であり、合計で輸入総量の86％を占めてきた。 今や食料のサプライチェーンは、戦地そのものと、そこから広がる経済的な衝撃波のまっただ中を通っている。...
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戦争は常にテクノロジーとともに進化してきた。この最新の米国・イスラエルによるイラン攻撃で変わったのは、サイバー作戦が存在すること自体ではなく、その役割である。サイバーはもはや支援機能ではない。標的化、エスカレーション（緊張の段階的引き上げ）、そして威圧に直接組み込まれている。 2026年初頭に米国、イスラエル、イランの作戦がエスカレートして以降、各陣営のサイバー活動は物理的な行動と歩調を合わせて進んでいる。ネットワーク、ID、クラウドインフラ、さらには消費者向けデバイスまでもが戦場の延長となった。その結果、物理的効果とデジタル効果を切り離せない形の紛争が生まれている。 各当事者はサイバー能力を異なる形で活用しているが、目的はおおむね共通している。標的精度の向上、敵対システムの攪乱、情報空間の形成、そして直近の戦場を超えた圧力の行使である。民間に隣接するシステムや商用インフラは、意図的な標的としても、揺さぶりの支点としても、この計算の一部になりつつある。...
Reese’s Recipe Controversy: Inside Hershey’s Backlash Moment
Close-up of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, October 22, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images) Gado via Getty Images A $12 billion company, a 70-year-old grandson, and the LinkedIn post that changed what’s inside America's best-selling candy. Here's what really happened — and why it matters . On April 1, 2026, The Hershey Company made an announcement that stopped me in my tracks. It sounded like a prank. It was April Fools Day.
Sysco’s $29 Billion Power Grab: What The Jetro Restaurant Depot Deal Means For Main Street Menus
MOOSE, WY - SEPTEMBER 27: A Sysco Food truck is parked at Dornans in full view of the Grand Teton Mountain Range on September 27, 2022, in Moose, Wyoming. Grand Teton National Park is an American National Park in northwestern Wyoming and just south of Yellowstone National Park. At approximately 310,000 acres, the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole.
Your Bottle Of Olive Oil Just Got Caught In A War Zone
August 2025, Bavaria, Kaufbeuren - A woman pours olive oil into a pan while cooking. (Photo by Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/picture alliance via Getty Images) dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images A war in the Middle East, a 15% tariff on EU imports, and Red Sea shipping disruptions are converging on America's most beloved cooking oil — and most shoppers don't see it coming. Pick up a bottle of olive oil at your local supermarket today.
Why The Strait Of Hormuz Blockade Spells Higher Beef Prices For U.S. Consumers
BROOKLYN, NY - March 5: MANDATORY CREDIT Bill Tompkins/Getty Images Meat case in supermarket on March 5th, 2000 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images) Getty Images The most-purchased protein in America was already under siege from the smallest cattle herd in 75 years. Now fuel prices, fertilizer costs, and corn feed economics are converging on the ground beef case in a way that could push the price past $7.50 a pound — and the worst hasn’t started.
Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン）
米国で最もメジャーなたんぱく源である牛ひき肉の価格がこれまでになく高騰している。ただでさえ肉用牛の飼育頭数が75年ぶり最低の水準に落ち込む中、燃料、肥料、飼料用トウモロコシの値上がりが相まって、牛ひき肉価格は1ポンド（約454g）あたり7.50ドル（約1200円）を超えそうな勢いだ。しかも、最悪の事態はまだ始まってすらいない。 全米の家庭で平日の夕食の定番食材となっている牛ひき肉は、消費者が想像するよりも長く複雑な道のりを経てキッチンの冷蔵庫に届いている。 すべては牧場で子牛が生まれるところから始まる。だが、その牧場はこれまでに干ばつ、山火事、洪水、さらには長年にわたる維持費の上昇を乗り越えてきている。無事生まれた子牛は肥育場へ移され、飼料を与えられて成長するが、飼料用のトウモロコシは窒素肥料を使って栽培され、ディーゼル動力機器で収穫され、ディーゼルトラックで輸送されてくる。成長した牛はいよいよ屠殺・加工されるが、その工場の稼働にもエネルギーを消費する。...
Ground Beef Is Already At An All-Time High. The Iran War Is About To Make It Much Worse.
The most-purchased protein in America was already under siege from the smallest cattle herd in 75 years. Now fuel prices, fertilizer costs, and corn feed economics are converging on the ground beef case in a way that could push the price past $7.50 a pound — and the worst of it hasn’t even started yet. BROOKLYN, NY - March 5: MANDATORY CREDIT Bill Tompkins/Getty Images Meat case in supermarket on March 5th, 2000 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
The Iran War Isn’t Just A Gas Price Story. It’s A Food Price Crisis With The Worst To Come
4-year-old Lucian sitting in a shopping cart, busily extracting credit cards from the wallet his mother, Natalie, gave him to play with while shopping at the grocery store near their home in Chicago, Illinois, in 2001. (Photo by Steve Liss/Getty Images) Getty Images From the bag of lettuce in your refrigerator to the corn that feeds every piece of meat on your table, the Strait of Hormuz is reaching into the American grocery store in ways most people haven’t even begun to calculate.
Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン）
イラン攻撃による原油価格の上昇は、すべての消費者の家計を直撃しないとしても、食料品価格の上昇という形で現れる。中東情勢の動向は、燃料・肥料・包装材という3つのコストを押し上げているからだ。これらは普段あまり意識されないが、果物から缶詰のスープに至るまで、モノの値段を左右する重要な要素となっている。 中東情勢を受けた世界の原油市場の動きは、食品価格にも直結する問題 米国時間3月第2週の時点で、世界の原油市場は、中東情勢を受けてすでに動き始めている。ロンドン市場の指標であるブレント原油は1バレル100ドル前後、米国のWTI先物も99ドル近辺まで上昇し、値を上げている。世界の石油の約2割が通過するホルムズ海峡では、イランの警告を受け、海運各社がリスクの再評価を進めている。タンカーの航路変更も相次いでいる。...
War In Iran: The New Cost Driver In The Grocery Aisle
Oil prices don’t need to hit every American directly for a war in Iran to show up on the grocery receipt. The conflict is already reshaping the cost of fuel, fertilizer, and packaging—three inputs that quietly dictate what shoppers pay for everything from berries to canned soup. As of the second week of March, global oil markets have already reacted to the widening conflict.
Think You’re in Control Shopping for Groceries? Wrong!
You think you’re in control of what you choose in a supermarket? Well, sorry to report, but you’ve been played. You don’t decide what you buy at the grocery store. An algorithm does. Welcome to the brave new world of the Agentic AI shopping experience. Your grocery trip is an experiment—and you’re the test subject. You’re not in control and here’s why. Pricing and promotions are manipulated just for you. You think the electronic shelf price is the same for everyone?
Will the New FDA Guidelines Change How We Shop for Food?
Big Shift: “Real Food” Circles the Aisles The core message of the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans is to eat more whole foods, more protein, and fewer highly processed, sugary items. It aligns almost perfectly with how many shoppers already say what they want to eat. For retailers, that means the perimeter of the store (produce, meat, seafood, dairy, bakery) is now explicitly backed by federal guidance as the default starting point for healthier choices.
ALDI At 50: The Grocer That Changed America’s Shopping Habits Isn’t Slowing Down
It may be hard to believe, but 2026 marks ALDI’s 50th year in the U.S. From its first store opening in Iowa City in 1976 to over 2,600 locations today, with 180 new stores to open this year. The once-niche discount grocer has grown into one of the most influential forces in American food retail.
Phil Lempert: I'm Starting Something New
After 30+ years analyzing the food industry through columns, keynotes, and SupermarketGuru.com, I’m trying something different. Well, not really. I started The Lempert Report back in 1984 as a bi-weekly paper newsletter - and now I’m bringing it back here on Substack. Starting January 13th, I’m re-launching The Lempert Report - my weekly take on what’s really happening in food retail, CPG, and consumer trends.
Forbes JAPAN 公式サイト（フォーブス ジャパン）
ホリデーシーズンが到来し、家族や友人をもてなす予定の多くのアメリカ人と同様に、あなたもおそらくレシートを見つめながら、いつから単純な集まりが贅沢な出費になったのかと思っているのではないでしょうか。多くの輸入食品やアルコール飲料のコストを押し上げる関税と、コーヒーやカカオの価格に影響を与え続ける環境問題の間で、大勢の人をもてなすことはかつてないほど難しく、そして高価になっています。 しかし朗報があります：戦略的な計画とスマートなショッピングにより、クレジットカードの限度額を使い切ることなく、思い出に残るホリデーパーティーを開くことは可能です。鍵となるのは、伝統的なホリデーディナーの枠を超えて考え、高価格を伴わずに大きな風味を届ける食品を取り入れることです—また、今日の多世代が集まる場で重要となる食物アレルギー、食事制限、多様な好みにも対応することが大切です。 ここでは、テーブルを囲む全ての人に喜ばれる5つの食事アイデアを紹介します。 自分で作るタコバー：究極の人気メニュー...
Why Your Grocery Store Wants You to Be Lonely
Walk into any modern supermarket and you’ll see the opportunism loneliness offers. In-store cafés with community seating. Cooking classes. Wine tastings. Sushi bars. Oyster bars. Even full sit-down restaurants. Wegmans’ Manhattan location dedicates an entire floor to prepared foods and dining. This isn’t about service—it’s about dwell time…and spending extra money. The data is clear: Lonely shoppers stay longer. They linger at those café tables. They browse. And they spend more money.
A Wake-Up Call for Big Food
Well, the gloves are officially off, and the food fight is on. San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has filed a lawsuit against ten of America’s biggest food companies—we’re talking Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Post, Kellogg/Kellanova, Mars, ConAgra, General Mills, and Nestlé. For the first time ever, a government body is dusting off the old Big Tobacco playbook and aiming it squarely at ultra-processed foods.
Stay On Budget: 5 Meal Ideas For The Holidays Original
The holidays are here, and if you're like most Americans planning to host family and friends, you're probably staring at your grocery receipt wondering when a simple gathering became a luxury expense. Between tariffs driving up costs on many imported foods and alcoholic beverages and the ongoing environmental impacts on the price of coffee and cocoa, feeding a crowd has never been more challenging—or expensive.
Tip Fatigue Is Real: It's Killing Trust
Let me be blunt. We’ve reached peak absurdity in American tipping culture, and retailers—particularly in foodservice—need to wake up before they alienate an entire generation of customers. A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ithaca, New York, and what I saw upset me enough to write this column. On the desk in my room was a placard asking me to tip for housekeeping, something we have all seen in hotels for decades.
What Will Pringles Think of Next to Sell More Chips?
Would you pay $19.99 for a can of Pringles and a trinket? Well, meet the Once You Pop Mystery Box—Pringles’ first-ever direct-to-consumer product. Inside each box, you get two cans. One contains a mystery flavor. The other? One of six collectible Pringamabobs. Not an original idea; remember the prizes in Cracker Jacks? These little crisp-inspired characters with names like Snaxolotl and Duckalips are bag charms that they hope tap directly into Gen Z and millennial collecting culture.
Jack Sinclair Is a Retail Radical
In an era when most grocery CEOs are chasing the same playbook—bigger stores, more SKUs, omnichannel everything—Jack Sinclair, CEO of Sprouts Farmers Market, is doing something almost unthinkable in retail: He’s making stores smaller, cutting selection, and deliberately ignoring 85 percent of the market. And it’s working brilliantly. The net profit margin for Sprouts reached 4.9 percent in the recent fiscal year.
Off the Shelf: A Tricky Halloween
You’d think that we’d all get a break this Halloween to kick off the holiday season. Well, think again. First off, on the candy front, expect higher prices and smaller sizes. The average individual candy bar is 10 to 15% smaller this year for the same price – or worse, for more. Hershey raised prices by double digits. A 48-count box of full-size bars that cost $40 last year is now $50. So how is Hershey responding? With a switch pitch to smaller vampire-shaped Kit Kats. Really?
Halloween 2025: A Record-Breaking Scare For Consumers
Contrary to what you might expect in an era of inflation fatigue and tariff anxiety, Halloween 2025 is shaping up to be the biggest spending season in the holiday's retail history. Americans are expected to shell out a record $13.1 billion this year—up nearly 13% from last year's $11.6 billion and surpassing the previous 2023 record of $12.2 billion according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). But here's the spooky part: consumers aren't necessarily buying more.
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