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by swatcoder
962 days ago
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> I fully expect that over time people are going to start cooking more and cutting back on restaurant visits and the industry is going to take a huge hit because of it. We can hope, but it seems unlikely to me that it would go quite like that. I'm pretty sure that once people are used to budgeting a larger share of their income on food, processed food companies and their retailers will happily soak up whatever gets trimmed from restaurant spending. There might be a net savings for those early to transition, but if it becomes a cultural trend, supermarket prices will just creep up to match the customary food budget. Restaurants may lose, but food manufacturers and supermarkets will likely claw back the difference before they let it go back to families. |
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I think you're wrong starting here. People aren't used to budgeting a larger share of their income on food. They're blowing their budgets, and it's going to stop fairly soon, because they can't actually afford it.
> processed food companies and their retailers will happily soak up whatever gets trimmed from restaurant spending.
If consumers let them, yes. If I'm right (and the GP), consumers won't let them.
> There might be a net savings for those early to transition, but if it becomes a cultural trend, supermarket prices will just creep up to match the customary food budget.
This assumes that there's no competition in supermarkets, and that they are free to raise their prices independently of their costs.
> Restaurants may lose, but food manufacturers and supermarkets will likely claw back the difference before they let it go back to families.
This assumes the same. And, "before they let it go"? You have a very exaggerated sense of how much power and control they have.