The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index jumped to 56.9 in August from July’s 51.9, apparently in part as a result of reduced levels of concern about inflation. The New York Times (Aug. 27, 2008)
A long list of consumer goods — led by food and fuel — rose at their fastest pace in six months, according to a Labor Department report released today. The New York Times (June 13, 2008)
Restaurant meals are down, store-brand sales are up, and “low prices” are increasingly cited as the overriding factor in decsions about where to shop. A new FMI report, released Monday at the FMI Show in Las Vegas, also cites increased interest in nutrition and some lingering concern about the safety of food sold in supermarkets. [...]
ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) became the latest food company to increase prices – in their case by some 5% on almost all of their consumer brands. They join a list of companies that have implemented price increases in recent month, including: Kellogg Co., Kraft Foods Inc. and Sara Lee Corp. Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal [...]
In response to rising costs, Hershey Co. is overhauling its supply chain — cutting jobs and outsourcing production of some products — and increasing its marketing efforts in emerging markets abroad. International sales now account for 13% of the company’s sales and are growing at 25% a year. That figure is even more impressive when compared with the annual [...]
The U.S. Department of Commerce reported an increase in consumer spending of just 0.2 percent in December — flat when adjusted for inflation. Consumer prices in December, by contrast, were 3.5 percent higher than a year ago, well above the Fed’s designated “comfort zone” of 1 to 2 percent. Opinions vary on just how bad the news [...]