Why the market for expensive pasta sauce is expected to grow

Aug 8, 2023
The Campbell Soup Company is acquiring Sovos Brands, maker of Rao’s pasta sauce. It’s pricey, but with the economic future iffy, more people may decide to trade eating out for buying premium ingredients at home.
Campbell CEO argues that while Rao's sauce might seem expensive, it's affordable compared to going out to eat.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Are marshmallows candy? It's a sticky question for state sales taxes

Nov 22, 2022
Most states don't tax groceries. But the treat used in candied yams and s'mores tests the definition.
Marshmallows — the roastable, toastable sweet — are taxed differently depending on a state's definition of candy.
Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Best Events

On Buffalo’s east side, inflation intensifies the daily struggle to buy food

“I have to get less food,” one shopper said. “So I plan very carefully with my food stamps.”
Shoppers at a mobile farmers market in east Buffalo, New York, where many residents struggle with access to grocery stores.
Brandon Watson

Food is more expensive because it's getting more expensive to make food

Sep 14, 2022
Farmers are paying more for equipment and supplies. Drought in the Great Plains has hurt corn and wheat. The Ukraine war also plays a role.
Extreme drought has hurt corn production in the U.S. this year.
Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Why the price of groceries is going up faster than a meal out

Aug 10, 2022
In part, that’s because restaurants don’t want to scare away customers.
"If consumers were truly, truly worried," says economist Jennifer Lee, discretionary spending on things like restaurant lunches "would be one of the first areas they would cut back on."
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

As inflation mounts, a prime culprit is the price of meat

Oct 20, 2021
Consumers are seeing rising prices for food, particularly beef, pork and poultry. That's forcing some to shift their eating habits.
Disruptions in the food supply chain, including labor and transportation, feed into the higher cost of meat.
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

How much should we buy at the store as COVID-19 spreads?

Mar 17, 2020
People are walking a fine line between underdoing it and overdoing it.
Shoppers stock up at a Costco in Glendale, California, on March 14.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

Coming soon to a produce aisle near you...

Jul 23, 2019
What the Cosmic Crisp means for the apple industry.
Aysia Stieb/The California Sunday Magazine