A billionaire grocery-store owner predicts food prices will surge 10% over the next 2 months

• Food prices will climb 10% within two months, the owner of supermarket chain Gristedes predicted.
• John Catsimatidis told Fox that food companies would drop promotions and stop selling low-volume goods.

John Catsimatidis, the billionaire supermarket owner, has predicted that food prices will spike 10% in the next two months.

Catsimatidis, the owner and president of the New York City supermarket chain Gristede, told Fox's "Mornings with Maria" that food prices were "going up faster than anybody expected."

"I see over 10% in the next 60 days," he said, per a Fox Business report.

He didn't specify how much would be passed onto shoppers, but said he was "concerned" that people are paying more.

Prices of food are spiking because, in part, of falling production, caused by a shortage of workers and supply-chain problems such as shipping delays. This is paired with increasing consumer demand.

The trend won't reverse "anytime soon," Catsimatidis said, per the Fox Business report.

Food companies "want to be ahead of the curve," Catsimatidis said - and to do that they're "dropping all promotions" and "low-moving items."

"In other words, if you have ten different types of muffins, they're only going to sell the top three," he said.

He said he expected big brands such as Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and others to only sell their main products, stop promotions, and raise prices. For example, Coca-Cola might cut back on cherry-flavored Coke, he said. Insider asked Coca-Cola and PepsiCo for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston told CNBC on October 5 that he expected more price increases on the company's beverages and snacks in the first quarter of 2022. "That's just the reality for us and everybody else," he added.

Catsimatidis previously told Fox Business in July that food prices could climb by between 10% and 14% by October 1.

Catsimatidis is also the owner and CEO of the real estate and aviation company Red Apple Group and the CEO of the oil refiner United Refining Company.

Kevin Burke, managing director and member of the consumer team at Citizens Capital Markets, part of Citizens Bank, told Insider in June that some restaurants could see a 10% increase in their food costs, adding that produce, dairy, and protein had already become more expensive.

Ingredients cost more than before, a New Jersey pizzeria owner told Insider in June. He said that his US supplier told him to expect "everything" to get more expensive.