| | | | | | | Presented By AlixPartners | | | | Axios What's Next | | By Alex Fitzpatrick, Jennifer A. Kingson and Joann Muller · Jan 30, 2023 | | There are signs the grocery price crisis is ebbing — but it's far from over, per a new Axios analysis. Today's newsletter is 1,107 words ... 4 minutes. | | | | | | 1 big thing: Grocery woes |  Data: BLS. Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios The meteoric rise in food prices slowed slightly in December, per a new analysis from Axios' Kavya Beheraj — but prices were still up more than 10% year-over-year, as groceries and restaurants gobbled up a larger-than-usual amount of Americans' spending, Alex Fitzpatrick writes. Why it matters: Grocery bills are one of the most powerful ways in which many Americans experience inflation. - As the cost of eggs, milk, and other staples rise, families living on the financial edge are left making difficult choices about what to buy — and what to skip.
- For restaurants and other businesses, higher food prices can leave owners with the difficult choice of swallowing the costs or passing them on to customers.
By the numbers: Nationwide, the cost of all foods was up 10.4% year-over-year in December, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. - The cost of food prepared at home was up 11.8%, while food consumed at restaurants was up 8.3%.
- Those are all down just slightly from recent highs set towards the end of 2022.
Zoom in: Dallas, the Twin Cities, and Baltimore are suffering some of the country's highest food price inflation rates, at 14.1%, 13.7%, and 13.5%, respectively. - By comparison, food prices are up 7% in Washington, D.C., 7.7% in Chicago, and 8.8% in Miami.
Driving the news: COVID-related supply chain disruptions, climate change, and higher energy costs are just some of the factors contributing to higher food prices. - Russia's war in Ukraine, a major wheat producer, continues to affect the global supply — and thus price — of that key foodstuff.
- The Federal Trade Commission, meanwhile, is under increasing pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups to investigate whether egg producers are manipulating prices.
The intrigue: Some businesses have noticed that while consumers may gripe about higher costs, they're willing to pony up, as the New York Times recently reported — disincentivizing them from bringing prices back down to Earth. The big picture: Rising prices aren't just changing the kinds of food Americans are buying, as Axios' Emily Peck recently reported — they're forcing some families to buy less food entirely. - "People are starting to think about what they truly need — and what can wait," Emily wrote.
What we're watching: There are some glimmers of hope on the horizon. - Wholesale egg prices, for instance, are beginning to drop, Axios' Kelly Tyko reports. Retail prices usually follow.
The bottom line: Many of the underlying economic and political factors affecting food prices persist, making it all but impossible to predict what your grocery spending might look like this year. Share this story. |     | | | | | | 2. Auschwitz-Birkenau plans virtual tours |  | | | An exterior view of the Auschwitz complex as seen on December 8, 2004. | | | | The foundation responsible for overseeing the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp will soon offer technology-assisted remote tours for people who can't visit in person, Axios' Ina Fried reports. Why it matters: Surveys show Americans lack basic knowledge about the Holocaust. Details: Online tours will be conducted by an experienced guide, traveling with a mobile phone through the still-intact site of Nazi Germany's largest extermination camp. - Invisible beacons will help prompt additional content, including archival music and footage, though the guides will be in control of what gets shown and when.
But organizers say the key to the project is people, not technology. - Human guides can adapt to the varying needs of diverse visitors, who range from curious adults to young school children to families of victims.
Between the lines: The move to broaden the site's online presence comes as many of the remaining survivors who have been doing in-person outreach are dying. - "There will be a time when there will be no survivors present and they will not be able to teach in schools," Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation director general Wojciech Soczewica said during a recent panel.
Yes, but: Layering technology on top of places of human suffering can raise concerns about exploitation or oversimplification. - But the project's backers say they are proceeding with thought, care, and the backing of survivors and victims' families.
Read the rest. | | | | | | | | 3. Here today, gondola tomorrow |  | | | Skiers enjoy the slopes at Alta Ski Resort near Salt Lake City on Jan. 1, 2013. Photo: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images | | | | Utah officials are proposing to build the world's longest gondola to relieve highway congestion in a busy ski resort corridor, NPR reports. - The eight-mile, $550 million gondola would pick up passengers at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon — about 20 miles from downtown Salt Lake City — with dropoffs at the popular Snowbird and Alta ski resorts.
Details: The plan calls for "stringing a cable on towers 260 feet above the road, with gondola cabins attached that could hold 35 skiers," per NPR. - "Cabins would depart every two minutes from the mouth of the canyon, where a large parking structure and terminal would need to be built."
What they're saying: The proposed system will "solve the congestion that exists now and preserve Little Cottonwood's mountain access for the future," reads an info page from the pro-gondola group Gondola Works. Yes, but: Not everyone is on board. - Some opponents say the system would be a state-funded gift to privately owned ski resorts, while others argue electric buses are the more practical choice.
| | | | | | | | A message from AlixPartners | | 98% of executives say their business models must change | | |  | | | | The 4th annual AlixPartners Disruption Index surveyed 3K CEOs and senior executives to learn how shifts in the global economy disrupt their companies. Here's why: Disruption has 75% of CEOs anxious that their company isn't adapting fast enough, while 85% don't know where to start. Read the report. | | | | | | 4. Southwest's $800 million meltdown |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Southwest's December meltdown cost the airline $800 million in the fourth quarter, Axios' Pete Gannon reports. - It expects to take another $300-$350 million revenue hit in the current quarter, execs said on a recent earnings call.
Yes, but: Southwest's efforts to defend its reputation appear to be working. - "The good thing is our customers are very loyal, and we're seeing that," CEO Bob Jordan said on the call.
- "We had a sale recently. That sale went really well ... we're seeing our customers redeem [rewards points] quickly at an even faster than typical rate for something like that, this gesture of goodwill."
Read the rest. | | | | | | | | 5. Boom breaks ground on supersonic factory |  | | | A rendering of the under-construction Boom Supersonic jet factory. Photo courtesy of Boom Supersonic | | | | Colorado aviation startup Boom Supersonic broke ground on its new North Carolina manufacturing facility last week, Axios' Zachery Eanes reports. Why it matters: The move is a big step forward for Boom, which aims to resurrect supersonic passenger travel. Catch up quick: Boom's planned aircraft, called Overture, could cut the length of long trips in half — imagine, for instance, getting from Washington, D.C., to Paris in four hours instead of eight. Yes, but: The company is still working out some key details, such as its engine design. - Boom signed a deal in December with Florida Turbine Technologies to design its engines after its previous Rolls Royce partnership fell through.
Reality check: Economics, not technology, killed the Concorde. - Boom's getting interest from the major airlines, but it has a long way to go to prove that Overture will make financial sense.
Go deeper: Supersonic travel could make a comeback. Read the rest. | | | | | | | | A message from AlixPartners | | New report: What will disrupt business growth in 2023? | | |  | | | | In a recent survey of 3K CEOs and senior executives, AlixPartners found leaders' greatest areas of concern. The deets: - 46% anticipate staff reductions or hiring pauses.
- 52% cite environmental and social concerns.
- 66% struggle to deploy new tech and digital solutions.
See more report results. | | | | Big thanks to today's What's Next copy editor, Patricia Guadalupe. Was this email forwarded to you? Get your daily dose of What's Next by signing up here for our free newsletter. |  | | Are you a fan of this email format? Your essential communications — to staff, clients and other stakeholders — can have the same style. Axios HQ, a powerful platform, will help you do it. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters.
Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington VA 22201 | | | You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios.
To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences. | | | Was this email forwarded to you?
Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox. | | | | Follow Axios on social media:    | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment