Inflation hits home as people pay more at the grocery store

 

PEWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Grocery stores struggled to fill shelves for more than a year. You may notice that there aren't as many "out of stock" items when you're shopping in 2022.

Ross Easton is the general manager at Good Harvest Market in Pewaukee. He says at the beginning of the pandemic they struggled to get nearly every item into the store. Now, the items that aren't coming in are more sporadic. But shoppers will have to pay the price for full shelves. 

"All of our dry good grocery items, those continue to see increases. Meat department, produce department-- it's pretty much across the board," said Easton. 

If you've had sticker shock walking through the grocery store, you're not alone.

"People don't want to pay $3 for a pint of strawberries. They want to pay $1.99 and that's what they're used to and that makes sense," said Paul Maglio. 

Maglio is the director of operations at Maglio Produce, a local wholesaler.

"We are paying more to our growers," said Maglio. 

He says his cost to operate has gone up 9 percent over the last year-- everything from packaging to labor-- caused by the pandemic. 

"The grower still planted everything that he had in the ground, and then COVID hit and they're trying to move it," said Maglio. 

Maglio said growers and manufacturers navigated difficult and costly territory, sometimes wasting product that didn't sell or finding workers to get the product to stores. 

Maglio says prices may level off eventually, but food prices won't be going back to pre-pandemic prices.