I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to own a grocery store, or just a foodservice business in general.  I’ve been doing this because I see a lot of things happening in this industry that I don’t like or that don’t align with my own perspective, or values, or expectations, or… whatever.  I’ll talk a little about what I’ve seen but I think in the end what I’m feeling is a loss of a sense of community.  So whether this comes off as whining, or complaining, or desperate, what I’m trying to do is a) process my own feelings about everything, b) explain to you what I think is wrong and why, and c) figure out how to run a successful shop while exemplifying the values I think are important.  None of that is simple and if you want to skip down to all the meat news below, I don’t blame you. 

Today I walked through a new grocery store that opened a couple of days ago.  It’s all shiny, bright, and fancy. It’s also confusing to walk around.  Aside from just being new and not knowing where things are, it’s designed to be a little complicated to move through.  There’s a lot of research dedicated to understanding how people buy food, specifically in a grocery store.  There’s a reason the milk and eggs are always in a corner far away from the door.  It gets you to walk through the store longer and hopefully realize that you need to buy more things.  There’s a reason that when you walk into a grocery store the first things you see are flowers or fresh fruit/veggies.  It subconsciously makes you think that everything in the store is fresh and nice and delicious.  Is it disingenuous?  I don’t know.  It’s a decision made at a higher level to try and squeeze more dollars out of peoples’ pockets and pad the stock price. 

That’s not the thing that bothers me.  As I walked through this radiant, shimmering testament to the processed food revolution it was the egg case that caught my eye.  I was stocked full with cartons of farm fresh eggs filled with (at these prices) liquid gold.  At that was what I noticed.  All of the labels had little stickers covering the price, and only the price.   You could still read the label (so you know what you’re buying) but the price was subconsciously erased from your mind using the same trick that the flowers or fruit performed when you entered.  That WAS disingenuous.  There were no prices on the beef either, and I buy beef every week so I’m very aware of how fast those prices shot up.  These tactics are a scheme to get you to stop asking pesky questions about prices and stop shopping with your budget in mind.   And those little egg stickers… each one said “Sorry for the inconvenience, we’ll restock soon.”  Even though they were fully stocked.  Because there’s nothing like a little FOMO, or potential FOMO, to drive a buying frenzy on items when they’re charging you well above inflation increases or supply and demand market forces.  And if you don’t believe that then you should look at their 2022 profits. 

This bothers me because I’ve always imagined my shop would be the kind of place where a mom would send her kid to buy a roast for dinner, like some black and white, 1950’s, Leave it to Beaver trope.  That trope, to me, exemplifies the kind of community I want to build and be a part of.   One where the shop keepers and the customers all know each other and people aren’t line items on an income statement.  The “shop”, my shop, or any grocery store or food service should be just that… a service.  Something we do because we feel a calling to use our expertise to create something good, and healthy, and wholesome, and share that with our community.  And walking through that super-special, super-extravagant, super-market felt like the opposite of that. 

The curtain has been pulled back and the wizard no loner cares if you know how much they’re overcharging you for eggs, because what are you going to do?  11 companies control over 75% of the grocery store market.  4 companies control 85% of the beef market.  And all of them have paid settlements out for wage fixing, price fixing, and child labor violations, among other atrocities. 

Here’s a few:

https://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/117666 - wage fixing

https://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/117555 - child labor violations

https://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/117581 - child labor violations

https://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/117621 - price fixing

https://www.meatpoultry.com/articles/31391-pilgrims-to-pay-415-million-in-investor-settlement - stock price manipulation

These are all from just this year, 31 days into 2025 as I’m writing this. 

I don’t have a solution.  Be the change you want to see in the world.. right?  So that’s what I’m doing, trying to run a shop where you can feel comfortable asking questions and knowing that we’re going to help you find what’s right for you.  So you can make your meals better and enjoy them with the people you love.  So you have access to food that’s not a commodity on a stock exchange.  One of the best things my parents ever taught me was how to share food with the people I love.  That’s why I do what I do now.  That’s why I see this super-store’s super-opening as a threat, to Friendly Nick’s of course, that’s just capitalism, but more to my community, or a way of life.  Or at least to the ideals and values that I think should be important in my life. 

So that’s what I needed to get off my chest today.  Sorry if it’s more dour than a newsletter should be.  But this is an opportunity to express my opinions of the industry along with letting you know about whatever promotions Tori wrote about below.  It’s also an opportunity for you to give us feedback and help us be the change you want to see in the world too.  That’s what being a community is all about. 

 Cheers,

Friendly Nick