It's no secret that inflation is resulting in sky-high prices in trips to the gas station or supermarket. But Washingtonian reports that one product in particular might be getting hit worst of all: lobster. The dish was already pricey before this pandemic-related bout of inflation, of course, but now things are so bad that some restaurants are taking it off the menu or charging market price. Think $100 for a two-pound lobster. “Lobster rolls just aren’t meant to be that expensive," says Jeremy Carman, partner at the DC restaurant the Salt Line. "It’s almost embarrassing to pass that cost to our guest."
A post at Axios sees this as a "microcosm of the U.S. economy" because a slew of supply-and-demand factors are at play. Those include a worker shortage among lobster fishermen, a delay in the start of the Canadian season, and a smaller-than-usual catch in Maine early this year, per Washingtonian. Consider that lobstermen in Maine were selling their catch for $6.71 a pound last year, up from $4.21 in 2020 and $4.82 in 2019.
While lots of stories are taking a look at inflation, Quartz examines the related phenomenon of "shrinkflation." The name is self-explanatory: Lots of familiar products are getting smaller as manufacturers cope with rising costs. The story ticks off some tangible examples:
- A standard bag of Doritos now has five fewer chips, with the bags shrinking from 9.75 ounces to 9.25 ounces.
- A package of Bounty Triples now has a total of 147 sheets, down from 165.
- A tube of Crest 3D White has shrunk from 4.1 ounces to 3.8, which roughly translates into one fewer brushing.
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