CT lawmakers want to tackle high grocery prices

Some lawmakers want to know if price gouging is happening in Connecticut’s supermarkets after a federal report indicated the nation’s biggest chains have raised prices more than they needed to.

Senate Democrats have asked Attorney General William Tong to send an inquiry to stores operating in Connecticut for pricing information.

“Consumers are caught in the middle and they’re the ones that are paying, while profits continue to go up,” Sen. Bob Duff (D-Majority Leader) said.

Democrats’ request comes less than a month after the Federal Trade Commission said, based on public available data, grocery price increases are because those major chains increased revenue, not because of inflation.

The report comes as the Justice Department is looking to block a merger between Kroger's and Albertson’s.

Only two of the major grocers – Walmart and Amazon, which owns Whole Foods – operate in Connecticut.

Tong said he’s sending his letter to all chains in Connecticut, not just the two in the FTC report.

“You can’t find a more important commodity than basic sustenance,” Attorney General William Tong said.  

Grocery stores said it’s not fair to describe price increases as price gouging.

“We were taken back a little to be singled out in terms of the rationale for higher food costs when it's a very large and complex food chain that actually drives those costs,” Connecticut Food Association Executive Director Wayne Pesce said.

He said Connecticut’s grocery chains are much smaller than the ones the FTC looked at, so they have little ability to control prices from suppliers, manufacturers and distributors.

Republican Rep. David Rutigliano (R-Trumbull) who also owns six restaurants, agreed price gouging likely isn’t happening.

“I certainly wouldn’t be for a company taking advantage of people, what I’m saying is I think they’re being slightly naive if they don’t think government had a role in the inflationary environment that we’re in now,” he said.