The threat of theft and danger to employees closing stores everywhere.

0:00 Speaker 1 What is today is Burt Flickingcher, and he is one of the countryes leading economists and consumer advocates, and he knows what the heck is going on in the inflation in the food industry. Walmart came out with some revelations on their spokesman the other day, and I figure, I get an analysis from Bert Flickinscher, Bert, what the heck

0:25 is going on? Walmart is sort of saying inflation is over, the prices are going down. What say you?

0:34 Speaker 2 Walmart’s saying inflation is over and going down, John, But that’s really on a month to month’s, quarter by quarter a year stacked. As you know, over the last two and a half years, food inflation is still twenty percent, and Abisco and the other brand manufacturers have not lowered in lowered their prices. So I think what Walmart’s saying

0:58 inflation’s down to get the analysts to give them some room for the stock to underperform over the end of this fiscal year and into the next calendar year.

1:13 Speaker 1 Understood. Now, they were also that talking about that the high price items people, the consumer has been resisting and walking away.

1:24 Speaker 2 From John here completely correct on the on the high price items where the brand manufacturers took the inflation prices up, and then when the crop years came in with the farmers getting lower prices, the brand manufacturers did not lower the prices in kind. So what what Walmart’s doing is they were late to really emphasize store brands or private

1:52 label the way you and Gristitis and Tagastino and others do so well. So consumers are trading down to smaller sizes and a more private label like Canada, England, Ireland and Scotland where fifty five to sixty percent of the unit sales are private label versus only about twenty to twenty five percent in the US.

2:17 Speaker 1 Understood, now what you were saying before that the national brands like Nabisco and your Oreo Cookies have not dropped any prices. Is it the private label brands that they’re buying overseas that Walmwater is talking about?

2:36 Speaker 3 Mostly it is John And in Canada the number one cookie is President’s Choice Chocolate chip cookies because Nabisco took the chips and the size of the chips down in Nobisco chips.

2:54 Speaker 2 Ahoy. So the consumer, whether rich or poor, is a smart shopper and they’re buying the private label cookies and Nabisco chips. Ahoy went from being number one for decades to a distant number two.

3:11 Speaker 1 Wow. Now the other thing I read about the other day is that somebody was suing. Was it the Attorney General of suing? Was it Nobisco for having less cream on?

3:24 Speaker 2 There are real cookies, yes, John, less cream And the government’s getting involved. But I think with the government getting involved, John, it really gets to your great work with Jack Futterman and Governor Pataki and Congressman Jack kempan, Senator Daniel Patrick moynihan.

3:44 Walmart got taxpayer funding to build inner city stores, and when the tax incentive financing expired after ten years, Walmart’s closing its city stores. It should be investigated. And the Federals Trade Commission has been micro managing Gristitis, Sloans, Red Apple, Kroger, Albertson’s on mergers. They should they should let you operate and expand as much as you can because you’re serving

4:14 the city consumer and selling good fresh product at a very competitive price in fast and friendly stores. Where Walmart and Amazon are taking public subsidies in public money to run the unionized stores, and the unionized retailers that are great like Stidias and Dugostino and Kroger and Albertson’s off the road. Walmart’s number one in supermarket sales, and Amazon

4:41 and Costco are right behind them, with all kinds of government support that you Gristiiti’s, Deegostino, Kroger, and Albertsons don’t get. And it’s not right. And the government’s been unwittingly supporting these global golias at the expensive people. And what’s worse, John, is organize retail crime. You have the Rocky Colorado bat that you perfected, and you have a great public safety

5:10 and crime prevention in your stores for your employees, the same way Gary Dake does its its steage shops, where Walmart has load to know people on security and there are all kinds of crimes from rapes, Maming’s murders committed on Walmart properties and the government never gets after them.

5:30 And it’s it’s a real shame for cities in Chicago and New York that are left with food deserts after Walmart gobbles up all the subsidies and sticks the taxpayers with higher prices and less personal safety and less safety for the workers and suppliers and shoppers.

5:50 Speaker 1 And the other one I heard Bert Flickinger, was Pepsi Colos being sued because one of the Attorney Generals is saying that they’re polluting something another all the plastic bottles they had, I mean, how else would.

6:05 Speaker 2 You deliver soda exactly, John and Pepsicola, like Christiiti’s and Dugostino, is one of the last corporate flags still flying in New York State. And so the Attorney General’s suing to put their biggest employers to send the half of Pepsi that’s not headquartered in Texas with its sister company Freedo Lay to leave Westchester County in New York and move

6:32 to Texas some more jobs and more taxpayer dollars. And I’m sure it’s it’s well intentioned, but really regrettable consequences economically, financially, and particularly for the poor people of New York State that need what Pepsi. Pepsi does, and Gristiiti’s and Dugostino and Morton Williams and the other New York headquarter companies do like Stewarts, to keep the economy going, keep hiring jobs,

7:05 and keep the prices low at a time when inflations spend the worst in retail and recorded history.

7:14 Speaker 1 Bug flicking, Joe, we have thirty seconds left. What do you want to tell all consumers?

7:20 Speaker 2 Tell all consumers John that Kroger Albertson’s, like Cristig’s, like Agastino, should be allowed to merge without Federal Trade Commission interference, and the Federal Trade Commission should continue to investigate Amazon and start investigating Walmart for the first time in sixty years to establish a level competitive playing field and that’ll make places safer the shop and more affordable and better

7:49 instead of wiping out stores, jobs and fifty of the top one hundred and fifty retailers than Walmart’s been a catalyst, key contributor and out across America.

8:01 Speaker 1 Thank you, Bert, Flek and Joe. We’ll catch up again real soon, and keep your eyes open and keep reporting to the American people what the heck is going on. Thank you so much.

8:10 Speaker 2 And thank you John for your cat’s makitis common sense solutions always right on and uh well, you’ll save the You save the country with your catspatitis common sense solutions.

8:23 Speaker 1 Thank you so much.