[eek2121]

Your argument assumes there is meaningful competition to begin with.

In the case of groceries, a few big companies ultimately control nearly all of it. They know you “need” groceries, so they will happily pass along the increased cost. What are you going to do, stop buying food?

[rsynnott]

Well, also, in the case of groceries, margins are typically very low, due to competition. Large supermarket chains tend to have profit margins in the low single digits; over 5% would be unusual. There’s just very little room to absorb cost increases without raising price.