Grocery Prices Are About to Push MILLIONS Over the Edge

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]The other day we talked about how gas prices are absolutely crushing the American commuter right now that has to commute to work on a regular basis.

[00:00:08]People are spending upwards of $200 a month or more extra in gas just to be able to get to work these days and if that's not bad enough, it is now bleeding over into food prices guys. I told you this was going to happen back when this gas shock first started happening. I said this was going to happen and now here we are barely 2 months later and it is happening in full effect. We're going to talk about that as well as the recent inflation numbers we got because all of this stuff is related and none of it's looking good.

[00:00:42]Prices are going through the roof on everything right now. Here's one real life example of how all this is playing out right now. You have Hunts Point Produce in the Bronx in New York City and they are one of the key hubs that feeds all of New York City and the surrounding areas. And the problem is if food costs are rising at a distribution hub like this, then that gets passed down to every other part of the food chain literally. Diesel fuel nationwide just hit $5.66 per gallon and because pretty much every part of the food chain depends on trucking, refrigeration, shipping, and heavy equipment, those costs ripple through to the cost of food. No matter if you're eating out, going to a grocery store, doesn't matter. And costs have gone up so much since we have seen this war with Iran start that now if you want to ship say celery from California where it's grown to New York, the cost has surged to about $11,000 per trip which is about 46% higher than that same trip just 1 year ago. That is insane and you think that all of these suppliers and distributors and grocery stores are going to be eating that cost? No, no, no. That's a 46% increase before that food ever makes it into your shopping cart, okay? It still has to be transported to the grocery stores. Once it arrives in New York, it has to go to different restaurants and local vendors across the city, which uses up even more diesel fuel to get it to its final destination. And by the time consumers actually buy the product, a simple sleeve of celery is roughly costing 40 cents more than it would have just a year ago. And that's just one basic food item. Those same costs are happening across all sectors of any type of food.

[00:02:41]Doesn't matter what it is. And it's not like celery is in some sort of shortage or anything like that, just because the cost of getting it from point A to point B has gone up so much. Take bananas for an example as well. One distributor said the cost of transporting bananas from ports across the world to New York has jumped by about 50 cents per box, and that they haven't even fully passed along these costs to customers yet because customers are already stretched financially and sensitive to price increases. So, this is a very similar situation that we're seeing playing out with this gas price shock that we saw with the tariffs. When we have the tariffs first introduced, you had a lot of companies kind of limiting the price increases, and some people trying to eat some of those costs before inevitably passing it along to the customer. But the problem is, the longer that this goes on and the longer these prices stay higher like this, the distribution costs and fuel costs, then the more likely it is those costs are finally going to get passed along to you in the end. I mean, they do pass some of it along, but maybe not the full amount until they get a full picture of how long these problems are going to last for. This is why you're seeing the job market so bad, too, guys. This really bleeds over into it. You know, businesses are essentially trapped. You have all of their customers who are already struggling with affordability on all fronts, okay? We don't even need to name them all. It's basically anything you need to buy, people are struggling with the affordability right now. That's not a secret. And a lot of businesses are trying to absorb some of these costs if possible, but it's coming to a point where that's not really possible anymore because many distributors and businesses are now reaching a point where they simply cannot absorb these costs anymore without completely going out of business, which means that these prices end up getting passed along to you. And the other reason why that they haven't done it in mass yet is because everybody thought this was going to be temporary.

[00:04:50]Right? We kept being told that this war was only going to last for a couple of weeks, tops. Well, now it's already been a couple of months with seemingly no end in sight, which is typically how these things play out. So, we could see gas prices go even higher for longer, which is going to be a major problem for everybody because now that it's already been a couple of months, what people thought was going to be a short-term disruption has now turned into a long-term structural issue because even if the Strait of Hormuz opened back up tomorrow, for example, and everything just got back to normal, well, you still have all of those ships sitting there that need to transport all that oil. And once it gets to its destination, it needs to be processed and things like that. Until that happens and all of the supply chain is caught up, so to speak, you're going to see price prices higher for longer. This could also restart at any moment. Even if the conflict were resolved today, who's to say it's not going to just start up again tomorrow?

[00:05:56]One year ago, an 11-lb case of asparagus cost suppliers $32. Now, it's selling for $60 for the same amount, guys. That is double in just 1 year. How many people are seeing their pay go up double in just 1 year? Basically, no one. I know I'm not seeing that happen. So, I'm sure most other people are not as well.

[00:06:19]And we're going to get to the inflation story later on and see how this problem is exacerbated by that. And what I want people to realize is basically our entire economy runs on the price of fuel because it affects transportation, it affects fertilizer, it affects refrigeration, it affects packaging, warehousing, labor costs, delivery service, and restaurant supply chains.

[00:06:46]And especially with fresh produce, for example, think about this. When you have fresh produce that's picked, whether it's something that's going to be sitting on the store shelf fresh or frozen and then transported, those are perishable goods that need to be transported to their final destination ASAP. You can't sit around and wait for cheaper shipping rates when you have fresh fruits and vegetables that have to get somewhere yesterday in order to maintain freshness and have the highest possibility that somebody's actually going to buy it. And that means that these distributors have no choice but to pay what today's prices are and they don't have time to wait for it to maybe go down tomorrow or the next day. And the other thing to think about is people can delay buying a house like we're seeing already with these record-low home purchases. People can delay replacing a car if possible. People can delay going on vacation, guys, but people cannot delay buying groceries, just like they can't delay buying gas.

[00:07:45]So, you're getting hit upside the head from both directions. Not only do you need gas for your car, but you also need to pay the higher prices that these distributors have to pay themselves. So, this is something that people feel multiple times every single week. Every time you go to the grocery store, every time you fill up at the pump, you're constantly being reminded of how much costs have gone up. And by the way, today I am walking down South Shore Drive here in Miami Beach. And yet you still have government officials coming out and telling us that everything's okay because unemployment still relatively low. And they can't really use that narrative for inflation anymore, but yet grocery prices keep rising. Restaurant meals are completely unaffordable. Going to fast food now, you're going to be spending like 15 bucks minimum probably. And I I've covered before how so many restaurants are just disappearing right now. I mean, how can they make it, guys? They're getting hit even harder than this because they have to charge a premium on top of the premium just to be able to turn a profit. Not only do they have higher food costs, but they also have all the higher rent costs, labor, utilities, and things like that that go into the cost of a meal at a restaurant.

[00:08:57]And then you're supposed to give a tip to the waiter on top of that. That just brings me to something I remembered real quick. One of my viewers, Ed, who lives in Ecuador, he sent me a picture of a menu from a local restaurant there, and I just couldn't believe it. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw this.

[00:09:14]Like, a ribeye steak there is $10, guys.

[00:09:18]I mean, name a restaurant in America where you can get a ribeye steak for 10 bucks. That's like a premium cut of meat. We're not just talking, you know, a burger or a cheap sirloin. You know, we're talking a ribeye steak for $10.

[00:09:35]You can't even buy a ribeye steak at the grocery store in America for $10 anymore, let alone a restaurant. And it is just insane how cheap it is in some parts of the world where people are fleeing to and retiring to, and that's the reason why, because that stuff still exists and you can still get that. And I don't blame anybody for doing that right now with how bad this is getting.