A new analysis from the White House Council of Economic Advisers suggests that elevated profit margins among large grocery retailers could be contributing to the stubbornly high price of food on store shelves. The analysis, which relies on Quarterly Financial Reports data from the Census Bureau, found that food and beverage stores had increased their margins by about two percentage points since the eve of the pandemic, reaching their highest level in two decades.

Much of that increase came in 2021 and 2022, around the time that other retailers — like clothing and sporting goods stores — also saw profit margins jump. Grocery-store margins have stayed elevated, the analysis finds, even as other retailers’ margins have fallen back to more normal levels based on recent history.

An analysis this year by the White House Council of Economic Advisers found that corporate consolidation had contributed to recent elevated grocery prices but that corporate factors did not come close to accounting for the majority of the price increases.

Stanford published research last year that found that the highest level of corporate profits were concentrated in a small number of sectors saw the fastest rate of inflation, including oil and gas, mining, real estate and grocery.

“It wasn’t every company that hiked prices, it was the ones in the positions where they knew consumers had no choice but to pay. We’re talking about the food industry, the energy industry, auto makers and financial services,” he said.

Such policy moves will be more effective when the government has more forceful measures, such as the excess profits tax contemplated by the standing committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, in its back pocket, he added.