I'm not sure if it's been the same in other markets, but in Southern California, it seems like the current food price decreases are just undoing the price increases of a year or so ago. The local Safeway owned chains (Vons & Pavilions) along with the Kroger owned chains have definitely been significantly lowering prices the last few months, but I'm not sure if the net change is any lower than they were before the big increases when oil was well over $100 a barrel.

I'm sure there are price/profit pressures from low cost competitors (Super Targets, Walmarts Supercenters, etc.), but it's unfortunate they're using this as an excuse to drop some nice benefits!