Chef Boyardee CEO Says There Are No Plans For Price Increases
2022 was a year of price hikes across the food industry. Not only did food inflation hit a 40-year record high, which was reflected by rising grocery store prices, we saw prices soar at our favorite fast food restaurants as well. Mcdonald's, a place consumers have historically turned for a cheap meal, increased its prices an average of 10% across the board from October 2021 to October 2022, according to CNN. The golden arches aren't the only fast food joint to have seen major price increases this past year. Chipotle raised prices by an average of 4% across the board in summer 2022, per Food Business News, and as Business Insider reports, the brand also altered its famously generous rewards program to keep in step with inflation.
Meanwhile, at the grocery store, we've seen shocking increases in prices; for example, ground beef soared to nearly 10% higher than its price the previous year in July. Then, there are eggs, which as of the latest Consumer Price Index report were up a surreal 49.1% over their price in November 2021. However, there's one area of the grocery store where hopefully we're about to see the last of the price shifts for a while: Conagra products, which is responsible for many recognizable supermarket staples, including Chef Boyardee.
Conagra's pledge
While consumers have trudged through inflation and shrinkflation — the process of reducing package size and maintaining or even increasing prices — throughout the past year, there's one sizeable area of the grocery store where they can expect to see some relief coming soon: the items sold by Conagra products (per CNBC). Conagra CEO Sean Connolly recently told Reuters that the massive company has no plans to further increase prices past the current fiscal quarter. That unfortunately means that there may be some price increases coming down the pipeline in the next few weeks, but nothing in the long run. Conagra's sales have been boosted in recent quarters by price hikes on its snacks and ready-made meals.
While Conagra might not sound that familiar to you, you almost definitely buy some of the company's products; they own so many brands, it would be hard not to. In addition to the popular Chef Boyardee label, Conagra brands include Gardein plant-based proteins, Healthy Choice frozen meals, Marie Callender's frozen foods, Slim Jim snacks, Bird's Eye frozen veggies, Hunt's canned tomatoes, and Duncan Hines baking mixes and frosting, among others. However, Connolly does admit that this could change if inflation persists.