Last week, we looked at how rising sugar costs will contribute to higher candy prices this Halloween. Of course, sweets aren’t the only product affected by global supply issues. Due to poor weather conditions in Europe, olive oil prices have more than doubled over the past year. The situation is worst in Spain, the world’s largest producer of olive oil and victim of a drought that has devastated recent harvests. Bad weather across the continent has also led to Continue reading
Last year, we looked at how rising candy prices and increased enthusiasm for spooky season led Americans to spend big on Halloween. And by all accounts, it looks like 2023 will be no different: not only are consumers expected to buy lots of costumes and candy, but they will also pay more for the privilege. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, candy and chewing gum prices jumped by 7.7 percent from Continue reading
Shoppers have two options when it comes to ringing up their items at the grocery store: pushing their cart to a cashier or opting for a self-checkout kiosk. The latter path became particularly popular during the pandemic when overwhelmed supermarkets sought to keep customers and employees at a distance. Store owners also figured that self-checkout stations would cut down on labor costs as shoppers did the scanning and bagging themselves. Walmart, for instance, retooled its cashier lanes to accommodate more Continue reading
Over the last few years, thousands of people have attempted to go viral on social media by eating an unbelievably hot tortilla chip. Branded the “One Chip Challenge” by the Austin-based company Paqui, the super spicy snack came packaged in a coffin-shaped box that dared eaters to wait as long as possible before drinking anything after ingestion. This led to countless videos online where people pleaded for water or shoveled ice cream into their mouths as a result of this Continue reading
On the massively popular app TikTok, searching for the trending topic “Kia boys” will result in hundreds of videos of people joyriding in cars. These aren’t overly enthusiastic owners, however: these users take advantage of the South Korean automaker’s lax security standards to steal vehicles for fun and Internet clout. For example, one video shows a gloved hand easily starting a car using just a screwdriver and a USB cable while a computerized voice repeats the phrase “this is why Continue reading