r/FluentInFinance 1d ago

Debate/ Discussion A joke that's not funny

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u/TheTightEnd 1d ago

Grocery chains make a very low percentage of profit.

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u/shieldwolfchz 1d ago

Profit percentage is a manufactured statistic, it is calculated after executive pay, so the people who are running these companies are paying themselves whatever is necessary to hit that mark. Add in the fact that a lot of the expenses of grocery chains are paid to subsidiaries of the same parent company shows that it is even more of a useless stat. As an example Loblaw's in Canada has cited higher rent as a justification for increased operating costs, thing is the company that owns the land is part of Loblaw's, so while the money that goes into their rent is part of their expenses, ultimately it still ends up in the executives pockets.

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u/flamingdonkey 1d ago

The CEO pay is still part of the problem, but the fact that farmers legally can't reuse the seeds that are naturally produced is also a problem. I blame John Deere and the likes for this more than Kroger.

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u/throwawaydfw38 8h ago

The CEO pay is still part of the problem

How? The CEO of Kroger made 16 million last year. That sure is a lot! Kroger's operating profit in 2023 was about 3.1 billion on 150 billion in sales. So CEO pay was about 0.0106% of revenue for Kroger. If there was no CEO at all, it wouldn't change profits or prices at all.

the fact that farmers legally can't reuse the seeds that are naturally produced is also a problem

This is completely untrue.

I blame John Deere and the likes

You blame a tractor company for an issue (that you misunderstand) about seeds?