Many Americans have had enough of high food prices. Restaurants and food manufacturers report slow sales.

Some consumers have given up their iced lattes to
save cash. (Adobe Stock photo)

Americans are exasperated by grocery prices that have remained high despite U.S. inflation numbers trending down. Besides shopping sales and driving from store to store for deals, many citizens are ditching more brand names and drive-up habits to save money. "Some consumers are hitting their limits," report Heather Haddon and Jesse Newman of The Wall Street Journal. "Restaurant chains and some food manufacturers are reporting sliding sales or slowing growth that they attribute to consumers' inability— or refusal — to pay prices that are in some cases a third higher than pre-pandemic times."

Starbucks, McDonald's, Wendy's and Nabisco are a few corporations that reported or are predicting sliding U.S. sales. "Coffee drinkers are leaving Starbucks's loyalty program. Chips Ahoy cookies are lingering longer on grocery-store shelves. Fewer customers are ordering at fast-food drive-throughs and kiosks," Haddon and Newman write. "U.S. fast-food traffic declined 3.5% in the first three months of this year compared with the same period in 2023, according to market-research firm Revenue Management Solutions."

Historically, American shoppers have resigned themselves to higher food and staple prices, and some grocery store executives say that today's consumers will eventually make a similar adjustment. But that's not happening for restaurants. "McDonald’s and other restaurant chains have warned for months that consumers are reining in spending, particularly low-income diners," the Journal reports. "But the depth of their recent pullback still caught some U.S. restaurant executives by surprise, they said last week."

In response to the consumer rebellion, companies are offering deals, sales and snack sizes to increase foot traffic. "McDonald’s and Starbucks plan to launch more promotions and communicate them more clearly to consumers. Mondelez [Nabisco parent company] said it would offer pricing specials and smaller pack sizes, and Kraft Heinz is rolling out new mac & cheese products," Haddon and Newman add. For the first time in its history, Starbucks "will open up deals limited to its app to customers who aren’t loyalty members."

To read how some Americans use creative ways to tamp down their grocery bills, click here.