Food prices will go up ‘tremendously’: Billionaire supermarket owner

Food prices will rise 10% in the next two months, John Catsimatidis says

Americans will see food costs rise "tremendously" in the coming weeks, according to billionaire supermarket owner John Catsimatidis. 

Catsimatidis, who is the president of Gristedes and D'Agostino Foods, discussed his concerns about inflation and supply chain issues on FOX Business’ "Mornings with Maria," and warned companies like Nabisco, Pepsi and Coke will begin to prioritize products and raise prices in order to get ahead. 

"I see food prices going up tremendously," he told Maria Bartiromo. "[CEOs] want to be ahead of the curve and the way they're doing it is they're dropping all promotions. They are dropping low-moving items."

HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPUBLICANS CALL ON BIDEN ADMIN TO ADDRESS 'ONGOING SUPPLY CHAIN CRISIS'

Catsimatidis went on to say this trend won’t reverse "anytime soon." 

"I see over 10% [price increase] in the next 60 days," he said. 

Analysts have pointed to the backlog of U.S. shipping containers at California ports as a significant cause for shortages seen across the country and predict the issues will persist into the holidays. 

The Biden administration said last week that they would work to expand the hours of operation at the California port in an effort to speed up the delivery of goods.

The Port of Long Beach-Port of Los Angeles complex, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

When it to comes to empty shelves, the supermarket owner pointed to companies like Procter & Gamble having a hard time providing enough toilet paper and other paper products, particularly "in the suburbs and the inner city."

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

He believes a side effect of the current demand for these products will be financial success for the producers. 

"Why give away something when you don't have to give it away and you make more margin?" Catsimatidis asked. "So I think that now these companies are going to have record profits in the third quarter."

FOX Business' Yael Halon contributed to this article.