Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: Well, rising prices for staples like food due to tariffs
Speaker 2: and out gas following the start of the Iran war
Speaker 2: are certainly things are top of mind for folks who
Speaker 2: are going anywhere right now. So let's check in with
Speaker 2: Stuart Leonard Junior. He's president CEO of John Tucker's favorite market,
Speaker 2: Stu Leonards, and he joins us from Connecticut. Sue, it's
Speaker 2: great to speak with you. No one likes having to
Speaker 2: raise prices, but at some point they need to. How
Speaker 2: have you been What's been your strategy when it comes
Speaker 2: to price increases because of higher cost on your end?
Speaker 1: Well, you know, we're in the fresh food business basically,
Speaker 1: and you know it ebbs and flows all the time.
Speaker 1: You know, it could be bad weather someplaces. There could
Speaker 1: be a drought out in the Midwest, and that all
Speaker 1: effects food prices. So one of the things, Look, we
Speaker 1: operate on very thin margins and the food business all supermarkets,
Speaker 1: and you know, when something like this comes up, like
Speaker 1: the tariffs when they hit us now, we got the
Speaker 1: fuel surcharges that are hitting us right now. We try
Speaker 1: to just eat it for as long as we can.
Speaker 1: You know, just just hold on. I grew up in
Speaker 1: this business. I've been doing it fifty years. I grew
Speaker 1: up on the floor here, and I got to think
Speaker 1: about the people pushing the shopping carts around the store.
Speaker 1: You know, I want to think like a customer, and
Speaker 1: they're fed up right now with any Their food bill
Speaker 1: right now is up up to their chin, you know.
Speaker 1: So what can I do? I got to hold it
Speaker 1: as long as I can, but I can't do it
Speaker 1: forever otherwise I'll start losing money.
Speaker 3: So I mean, based upon your experience so far this
Speaker 3: year with the higher terrorfs ken, what's I know? You
Speaker 3: try to work with your suppliers to kind of share
Speaker 3: the cost here, how's it kind of taking out how
Speaker 3: much has been born by you the retailer, by maybe
Speaker 3: your suppliers, and then maybe by the consumer.
Speaker 1: Well, I think your opening comment that you had today,
Speaker 1: nobody wins when you raise price, Okay, The suppliers don't win,
Speaker 1: The ranchers don't win, the farmers through Londons doesn't. So
Speaker 1: everybody holds off. Usually what we'll end up probably doing.
Speaker 1: We're starting to get some fuel surcharges heading up right now.
Speaker 1: We're bringing fresh product in from the feed from the
Speaker 1: Midwest and you know, berries and produce from from Florida
Speaker 1: and California, you know, and those fuel costs. I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy's got to fill this truck up to get
Speaker 1: it here, So those costs have been going up. Usually
Speaker 1: what we can do and say we'll split it with you,
Speaker 1: that's the first step. So that's what we're probably gonna
Speaker 1: start doing. Uh and then hopefully the way I feel
Speaker 1: this is this is gonna be short term. I hope
Speaker 1: the government is going to get this all worked out
Speaker 1: with the flow of oil, and I hope energy prices
Speaker 1: will be coming down in the future.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think that's something we all hope for.
Speaker 2: Of course, we also know that the Supreme Court struck
Speaker 2: down President Trump's tariffs, and I'm wondering where that leaves you,
Speaker 2: Stu Leonards, and where that leaves prices on those goods
Speaker 2: where they had gone up because of tariffs.
Speaker 1: You know what, I think that's above my pagurade right there.
Speaker 1: You know, we're a family business here in the metro
Speaker 1: New York area. I don't really know how they're gonna
Speaker 1: rebate people. I know, Costco was sueing the government and
Speaker 1: I think our wine suppliers just wrote that there's some
Speaker 1: money coming back from the tariffs on the liquor under
Speaker 1: the business. But I don't really know how that's gonna
Speaker 1: work out. I like getting a refund checked. I guess
Speaker 1: a bit if it happened.
Speaker 3: Heystu. One of the areas that seems to be persistent
Speaker 3: area of inflation for shoppers just the cost of beef.
Speaker 3: And you know, we've been told that the actual cattle
Speaker 3: herd in his countries at a very low level. What's
Speaker 3: what's your understanding of that market?
Speaker 1: Hey, look what I've had for you right here? I
Speaker 1: brought one of these how's that? Look? Oh, there we go.
Speaker 1: That's that's what our ranchers when they come back from
Speaker 1: the Midwest. That's what they want to eat for rib by,
Speaker 1: you know, tomahawks, steak and they're great. But you know what,
Speaker 1: right now there there is a fifty year low supply
Speaker 1: of cattle. Right now, it's at the lower the herd
Speaker 1: sizes of the smallest they've been, so obviously it's going
Speaker 1: to drive price. One of the reasons is there was
Speaker 1: a great drought. The grass wasn't out in the in
Speaker 1: the pastors, so the ranchers had to start feeding the
Speaker 1: cattle of food instead of letting them eat the freere.
Speaker 1: So that drove the price of beef and it's held
Speaker 1: up there. A lot of the ranchers we talked to
Speaker 1: are starting to expand their herds now, so I sort
Speaker 1: of see prices coming down on deep as supply increasons
Speaker 1: a little bit. Well, you know, here's what you can
Speaker 1: do if you want to save money instead of buying beef.
Speaker 1: Like if I want to go get a New York
Speaker 1: strip right now, it's going to be roughly around fifteen
Speaker 1: bucks account. What you can do is instead if you
Speaker 1: go to pork, which I've done it. We have this
Speaker 1: prime pork from Pennsylvania and it's delicious, So you could
Speaker 1: switch from a fifteen dollars product down to a five dollars.
Speaker 1: You could do it with chicken. So we're noticing customers
Speaker 1: a little bit of starting to alter their diets a
Speaker 1: little bit. Yeah, by buying lower price items right now
Speaker 1: makes a.
Speaker 2: Lot of sense, and certainly everyone's taking a closer look
Speaker 2: at those price points when they make that decision. Stu,
Speaker 2: thank you so much for joining. Stuart Leonard Junior is
Speaker 2: president and CEO of stut Leonard's a very popular market
Speaker 2: across Connecticut.