The price on a Thanksgiving turkey is only part of what shoppers will pay. Bryce Graham explains why holiday deals could coexist with a fresh rise in food inflation. Duke Winston takes us to Seattle, where the city has drawn a line on using shoppers’ personal data to set grocery prices.
The question of who controls the customer relationship runs through Alexander Wissel’s look at Costco, Wakefern and the delivery apps. It also runs through the negotiations Don Walker and Wissel examine at Kroger, where the retailer appears willing to give up national brand sales rather than accept proposed price increases.
And in New Jersey, our report on Jim McGreevy’s appointment looks ahead to the Food Council’s next chapter as Linda Doherty prepares to retire after 33 years with the organization. Taken together, these stories show an industry making consequential choices about prices, partners and the people who speak for it.
It’s all below…
Holiday Deals May Hide a Bigger Grocery Bill
A cheap Thanksgiving turkey might look like proof grocery inflation is easing. I wouldn’t count on it. Cal Poly food economist Ricky Volpe warns that rising diesel, electricity, storage and transportation costs could make the fourth quarter the most inflationary of 2026. Yet retailers have every reason to put aggressive prices on turkey, ham and other holiday staples: Those deals bring shoppers through the door and fill carts.
Bryce Graham shows us why the prices that grab attention this holiday season may tell a very different story from the total at checkout…
Seattle Draws a Line on Grocery Pricing
A grocery store can tailor a coupon to you. But should it be able to use what it knows about you to decide your price? Seattle’s City Council has said no, voting 7-2 to ban grocery “surveillance pricing.” The ordinance reaches beyond individualized shelf prices to electronic labels, discount disclosures and delivery services. To me, that makes Seattle a test case for a question the industry can’t avoid.
Duke Winston looks at the issue…
The Grocery Store Is Becoming an App
Costco added nearly 600 warehouses to Uber Eats this week, then announced a nationwide DoorDash launch a day later. Meanwhile, more than 375 Wakefern supermarkets have joined Uber Eats. These deals give shoppers more delivery options, but I think the larger shift is where the grocery trip begins. Increasingly, it starts inside an app that doesn’t belong to the retailer.
Executive Editor Alexander Wissel looks at who owns the relationship when someone else owns the screen…
A Leadership Change at the New Jersey Food Council
After 33 years with the New Jersey Food Council, including 23 as president and CEO, Linda Doherty will retire in January 2027. Succeeding her is Jim McGreevy, a Coca-Cola government affairs executive and former Beer Institute CEO. Those credentials make sense for an organization that represents grocers in Trenton: Building coalitions and making the industry’s case are central to the job. Still, Doherty’s tenure is a substantial legacy to inherit.
Here’s more on the transition…
Kroger Puts Suppliers on Notice
Kroger has pulled Red Bull from more than 2,700 stores and fuel centers, while reducing or eliminating Boar’s Head products at roughly 200 stores. The Boar’s Head dispute is less clear-cut, but the broader message seems plain enough to me: Kroger is willing to give up sales of a national brand rather than accept every proposed price increase. Under CEO Greg Foran, shelf space looks increasingly like a negotiating tool.
Don Walker and Alexander Wissel talk about why CPG suppliers may want to sharpen those pencils before their next meeting with Kroger…