Litchfield Hills Today

Rob LaBonne, owner and operator of a fourth generation family supermarket based in Connecticut, said the increase in prices at grocery stores is due to inflationary increases caused by “Biden’s policies,” not by price gouging from the supermarkets. 

“This is a joke,” LaBonne said in a post on X. “Grocery stores are not price gouging. We have fixed margins that change when our cost of goods change.”

“Failing to react to cost increases puts you out of business, he said. “Once cost of goods is paid we still have to pay staff, utilities, insurance, etc which are all up thanks to Biden’s policies.”

LaBonne made the statements in response to a post from President Joe Biden describing his administration’s plan to “tackle” price increases in grocery stores, which he attributed to “price gouging.”

The plan from the Biden administration included a partnership with 31 Attorney Generals across the county focused on price gouging, as well as working with national chains like Aldi, Walmart, and Target to lower their prices. The administration also plans to provide "low-income families of four $2,000 more for groceries by improving SNAP and launching summer EBT," according to the post. 

LaBonne's Supermarkets is a fourth generation, family owned grocery store based in Connecticut. Opened as a butcher shop and delivery service around 1900 by George LaBonne, it has grown into a full sized grocery chain passed down through multiple generation and operates four locations in Watertown, Woodbury, Salisbury, Prospect.