The freeze starts Sunday and ends April 8.
Wegmans has announced a price freeze on certain products through April 8.The move follows a 2011 price freeze on 40 items that expired at year’s end. The Rochester, N.Y-based company said last year’s freeze cost Wegmans more than $8 million.
Wegmans operates local supermarkets in Hanover and Lower Nazareth townships, Northampton County, and Allentown.
“Customers wrote us, or stopped us in the store, to say how much easier it was to budget and shop knowing they could count on prices for an extended period of time,” Wegmans President Colleen Wegman said in a statement today. “With that kind of feedback, there was no question that we would come back with another list, but we thought it was important to include what customers purchase at this time of year.”Twenty-seven items on the original list are also on the new list while 25 items have been added.
Wegmans spokeswoman Jo Natale said some items on last year’s list did not carry over because costs have risen so much Wegmans could no longer guarantee a retail price. Examples include peanut butter, canned tuna, and coffee.
“The food industry is still confronted with high commodity prices, energy costs, and global demand pressures,” Natale said in a statement. “The picture for 2012 is a bit murky, but there’s no prediction that costs will drop any time soon, and it’s more probable they will rise.”Wegmans said the new list incorporates seasonality by including items such as canned soups, navel oranges, and several cough and cold over-the-counter medications. It also adds categories that were not on last year’s list, like bread and paper products.