As the old story goes in news circles, when you hear something once, you dismiss it. Hear it twice, you keep your ear to the ground. Three times and you’re digging with a shovel.
At SpokenFood, we’re now using a backhoe. No one in BigFood is saying a peep. On purpose.
We launched SpokenFood with WalletGate – a story on nationwide price-gouging by suppliers and distributors in the American food supply chain. We named it WalletGate because it smacks of conspiracy. What we’ve proven in the past month, speaking to dozens of sources in BigFood, is that nearly everyone is price-gouging and those who might not be know who is doing it…and no one is opening a mouth about it.
McLane Company, United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI), Yum! Brand restaurants like Taco Bell and KFC, Whole Foods, Hy-Vee Stores, Walmart, Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) – these are among your largest food suppliers in the country and nearly every single one – with one exception – refused comment on the multiple calls and emails we sent. The ones that did only confirmed our suspicions.
A month ago, we first published a striking graph – see above – comparing food costs to diesel costs. Why? Because the only excuse we got from BigFood blamed their constant price increases on diesel fuel, which is what started this whole, nasty conspiracy ball rolling in the first place. Spoiler Alert: Gas prices are still flat, while food prices rise without a single drop since the end of Covid in 2022.
BigFood wants this kept on the down-low and just like that secret organization you hear so often about in movies, the food supply chain industry has sent a quiet, clandestine warning to everyone involved: “Keep your (insert expletive here) mouth shut.”
That’s why we keep digging and listening. In any dirty deal or conspiracy, someone always spills the beans.
– Sal Notaro, Editor-In-Chief