B'SD
GG STANDS FOR GROISE GOUGING
By: Suri Davis
The local markets, including the kosher ones are gouging consumers in a scam I call “FEARFLATION.” President Biden called the gas companies out on this ploy wherein the media and economists predict inflation on Monday and by Monday night, companies raise their prices although their current inventory prices have not yet increased. The gas companies double their billions in profits this year playing on the fears and “knowledge” of consumers over inflation prices and it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Here are some local examples:
Kosher chicken: Gourmet Glatt Chicken Thighs:$4.19/lb, it rose $.50/lb in the last week a whopping 13.5% in one week. Costco Empire Chicken: Thighs: $2.49/lb A WHOPPING $1.70/lb LESS OR 41% LESS. Grab a family package of Gourmet Glatt Chicken Thighs, it will cost you about $29, grab a package of Costco Chicken thighs and it will cost you about $15. You decide.
Gourmet Glatt Chicken legs:$4.29/lb, it decreased $.10/lb. Costco Empire Chicken legs: $1.99/lb A WHOPPING $2.30/lb LESS OR 54% LESS. Grab a family package of chicken legs from Gourmet Glatt, it will cost you about $18, grab a package of chicken legs from Costco, it will cost you about $11. You decide.
Eggs: GG: $3.99/dz, Costco:$2.69/dz, Target: $3.49/dz, Aldi’s: $1.97
Non CY Milk: GG: 5.49/gallon, Target Lawrence:$2.99/gallon, Aldi’s $2.19
Flour: GG 4.99/5lbs. Target: $2.29/5lbs. GG King Arthur: $7.99. Seasons King Arthur $8.99. Aldi’s flour:$2.12.
Sugar: GG:$5.99/4lbs , Target:$2.99/4lbs and $2.61 at Aldi’s
Look at your cereal prices at Gourmet Glatt, Seasons and Frenkels, compare them with Costco, Target and Aldis. I am all for supporting local kosher markets, but not when they obviously gouge, are opportunistic and hurt the working family paying yeshiva tuitions and trying to make ends meet.
Almost every single item in our kosher stores have skyrocketed and for no other reason than gouging which is preying on FEARFLATION, the anticipation of inflation.
What we can do together to stop this gouging:
1. Buy what you can elsewhere, it will save you money and send a message to the kosher stores. When you go into the kosher stores, speak with the managers and express your outrage.
2. Pray that Bingo gets here faster. What we need is more competition. There have been other stores interested in coming to town, and I have heard, but not substantiated that the Kol Save store space was researched by the Kollel Store, before Gourmet Glatt bought the space. As I mentioned before, when Kol Save opened I went to visit both stores to compare prices, Gourmet Glatt raised its prices and priced Kol Save at its older prices to have Kol Save priced at a lower price, e.g. cholent beans went from $.99 to $1.19 in Gourmet Glatt as they priced the Kol Save cholent beans at $.99.
3. Ask the Vaad to speak with their stores. As you can see from the attached article by Rabbi Wein, it is against halachah and humanity to gouge a fellow Jew, it is my humble opinion that the Vaad of the Five Towns should hold its members to a higher standard and should not support this gouging. I am not saying that they should pull their hashgachah, but as they feel that raspberries are too hard to inspect and eat in a kosher fashion, as they ask their grocery stores to close a half day on Tisha b’av so as not to support shopping when against halachah, they should encourage their stores to lower prices on staples and heimishe products which cannot be found in non-kosher stores and to stop anti-heimishe behavior, which harm Five Towns residents. Just because owners can get away with this behavior, doesn’t mean they should.
4. Ask our Rabbis to reach out to the stores, a two minute phone call can go far. Each one should reach out to Gourmet Glatt, Seasons and Frenkels, and ask them to stop this gouging on staples.
Shabbat shalom.
-Suri
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