Why Is Food So Expensive? (Top 11 Reasons)

 

It seems that grocery bills keep going up and up.

In the past, if your normal weekly shopping was close to $100, you may see it closer to $150 now.

The pricing of the food is continuing to go up, and there is really no end in sight.

If you are curious as to why the pricing of food just keeps going up, we have some answers that can help.

Here are the top reasons food is so expensive.

 

Why Is Food So Expensive? (11 Reasons)

 

1. Commercial Leases

 

Food stores are large.

They need plenty of space for displaying the product, storing product that is not yet on the shelves, cashiers and cash registers, and room for shoppers to move around.

To have this much space to display everything the proper way, food stores need to lease substantial buildings.

These types of buildings have extremely expensive commercial leases.

If you thought your rent was expensive, take a look at the rent that some of the local grocery stores are paying.

In addition to these leases, the food stores need to have many locations.

It is not really enough to have one food store and another one thirty or forty miles away.

The large food stores that are trying to make a good profit will have several locations in a single city or town.

When you calculate the amount of food they need to sell just to be able to pay for their rent, you will see how this trickles down to the cost of food.

The high-priced lease is an overhead expense that a food store needs to cover.

As these overhead expenses increase, so will the prices that we pay for food.

 

2. Location

 

Food stores must be in high population areas.

These are the areas that are going to produce the most sales for them.

However, depending on the demographics of the location where the store is, pricing can change.

For instance, when you are shopping in areas of the country where the income levels are high, you will notice that grocery prices are also high.

This type of increase may seem unfair, but there are other reasons as well.

Sometimes these high-income area stores need more employees and higher quality items that are more difficult to source.

There is no questioning the fact that grocery store pricing is going to change based on the location of your store.

Sometimes looking for a store in an area where income levels are not quite as high will help you find some more affordable food.

Economics plays a role in grocery pricing.

 

3. Logistics

 

The logistics of owning and operating a grocery store are quite complicated.

The process of getting food from factories and farms to a store, placing it out for sale, and then selling the product is very complicated.

Each individual part of the supply chain has so many costs associated with it that it can be hard for most people to understand.

The logistics of getting food into your home is a major reason for higher pricing.

If you think about the time it would take for you to cultivate your own food, this may make a bit more sense.

One of the major costs in the logistics process is the price of shipping.

Not only does food sometimes need to be shipped from across the country or across the world, but it also sometimes has to be shipped at specific temperatures.

If the temperatures are not accurate, the food could be completely spoiled.

To avoid this situation, food is priced a bit higher, and at the same time, it is moved at a faster rate of speed through the country.

 

4. Salary and Wages

 

Workers in grocery stores need to make money to support their families.

Grocery store workers’ wages are higher than in many other industries.

A major reason behind this is that the grocery store and food distribution is such an important factor in the way our world works.

These salaries are going to continue to go up with inflation and additional cost of living.

When that happens, the salary continues to go up, and workers get paid more.

As always, when you look at overhead expenses, the price of the product will need to cover the wages as well.

Most people who complain about the high cost of groceries don’t want grocery workers to make less money.

Most would want the pricing to be adjusted in another area before it impacted the people who help them get the food on the table to feed their families.

However, when you consider the reasons for high-priced groceries, the salary and wages of employees will stand out among them.

 

5. No Government Help to Small Farms

 

The government does not help the farming industry all that much.

In other countries, there are subsidies coming from the government that help farmers survive and keep their costs a bit lower.

In the United States, this is rarely done, and if it is, it is usually to help a larger farm or a mass producer of food.

Not much will change about this unless an investment is made to start supporting farms.

Farmers work quite hard to provide the food that they do.

Farmers are also under increasingly high demands, and they have a hard time keeping up with new regulations and requirements as well.

The worst part of this is that many of the farmers in America are deciding that they can’t keep their farms functioning anymore.

This, of course, leads to lower supply and more expensive food prices.

As you can see, this cycle is not a good one, and it has us all paying more money.

 

6. Supply Issues

 

Each time there is a supply issue when it comes to food, you are going to see an increase in the pricing.

Sometimes a supply issue is a temporary thing, and other times, it becomes a long-term problem.

For instance, if there is a bad weather season in an area like California or Florida where many crops are growing, it will impact the pricing that you pay in the store.

Some years, you will find that apple prices are cheaper because the weather conditions were good and apples were abundant.

If the next year’s prices are twice as much, it could be related to the supply of apples available for that year.

Sometimes supply issues in one part of the country can be fixed by bringing in food from other parts of the world.

However, there are times when supply issues cannot be fixed because there is simply no way to create a product.

When this happens, the prices start to get really high, and sometimes it will simply make sense to discontinue a product.

 

7. Need (People Don’t Grow Their Own Food)

 

Many years ago, people would go to the grocery store to supplement the need for food in the house.

Today, it is rare that people are growing the majority of their own food.

This means that people are more and more dependent on the food that they are getting from their grocery stores.

The fact that this is a need instead of a want will sometimes increase the prices paid.

People who have no other choice but to purchase their food are going to be stuck paying high prices.

There is really no workaround for this aside from growing food in your home.

The fact that most people do not have the time or the resources to grow all of their own food, you will see an increase in the price that is paid.

This is kind of like when people need a plumber to fix their issues in their homes.

Many will complain about the price, yet they probably have no other options as these issues are more specific to what a plumber would know how to do.

One way to save some money on groceries is to start growing some of your own food.

If you find that you like it, you can expand your garden and really start to make an impact on your grocery bill.

Luckily, you can start with some small pots or containers and then expand your garden from there.

 

8. Organic Food

 

Organic food is quite a bit more expensive than non-organic food.

The major reason behind this is the process that food goes through to get to our tables.

When food cannot be sprayed or treated to help it grow, it takes more time and attention to get the food to the stores.

When you go to a grocery store, you have the option to purchase organic and all-natural food, but it will not always be worth it for you financially.

However, the way that food has started to be genetically modified and changed through the years, many people find that they are only comfortable with organic food.

Organic food costs more but most find it to taste better and to be healthier.

To compete with organic food, many farmers and food distributors are starting to use fewer and fewer harmful ingredients in the food they produce.

Although this is a great benefit, it also continues to add to the price that we will pay for food.

Soon you will see food that is mostly organic that costs just a little bit less than the food that is organic.

The issue will not help to make the food we purchase and eat to be any more affordable.

This is another reason to learn this skill and grow your own food.

The more you can do when it comes to producing healthy and organic solutions, the bigger the cost savings that you will see.

For one person to manage a few plants organically, it is entirely possible.

When farmers grow acres and acres full of food, they have a hard time keeping up with the demand and all that is required to keep the food healthy.

 

9. Packaging

 

Packaging of food continues to make the cost go up.

Not only does the packaging need to keep the food preserved, but it also has to look good.

People don’t want food packaged in an ugly or unappealing container, and they also don’t want their food to get crushed or smashed on its way home from the store.

When you pay for food, you are also paying for the packaging.

Some stores have opened where you can bring your own packaging and purchase bulk supplies like flour, nuts, wheat, and other things.

These stores are designed to help lower the amount of packaging that we waste and start to incorporate reusable packaging into our lives.

The concept behind these stores is wonderful, but they have not entirely caught on.

Most people don’t have the time, although there is still a general concern for the world we live in.

If you think that you can reduce your usage of packaging, this is the type of store to look out for.

Chances are you will also pay a little less for the food because you are not paying for packaging.

You can also customize the amount of food you buy, leading to much less waste.

 

10. Inflation

 

Food prices have gone up along with the cost of everything else in our lives.

The days of purchasing a loaf of bread for a nickel are gone.

There is not much that you can do as an individual to combat inflation.

One of the positives is that people are also making more money.

This means that, even though bread is more expensive, you can still afford to get the same amount of it as you were able to even when it was a nickel.

Most people are going to have to put the idea of inflation aside and just try to earn more money.

If you hold on to the fact that milk used to be a dollar, it is only going to make you more frustrated about the current costs of food.

 

Issues with Other Countries and Politics

 

As with most other things in our world, there is an element that politics and regulations will impact.

Food coming from other countries is going to have to go through strict testing.

The sellers will pay import fees, and consumers will be the ones who absorb the majority of this.

When dealing with food from other countries, it also means that our relationship with those countries has to be a good one at the time.

If there are political or economic misunderstandings, the prices we pay for our food will only increase.

Overall, you can never completely rule out the fact that politics and relations with other countries are going to play into the price of food.

 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many reasons that the pricing of food is so expensive.

It will not be a quick fix to start making groceries more affordable for Americans.

One thing you can do is start to clip coupons and purchase food that is on sale.

Sometimes by combining the weekly sale ad with a bit of smart meal prepping, you can save yourself hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year.

This only takes a few minutes, but it will be well worth the money.