A study by St. Joseph’s University professor and food marketing expert Dr. John Stanton found that Philadelphia’s expensive and wide-ranging beverage tax is costing local grocery stores more than $300,000 a month in overall sales.

According to an article in the Philadelphia Tribune, “the study indicates that Philadelphia families were fleeing city supermarkets subjected to the 1.5 cents per ounce tax, causing local supermarkets to lose entire shopping trips to the suburbs.” This backs up an earlier study by independent marketing research firm Catalina which found that "soda at franchised grocery and drug stores dropped 55 percent inside the city after the tax went into effect this year, while sales spiked by 38 percent at stores just outside the border."

Stanton says this dramatic loss in sales will inevitably lead to job loss and reduced hours at local grocery stores. “There is almost no scenario that would lead one to believe that the Philadelphia Beverage Tax will permit taxed supermarkets to maintain existing labor forces,” wrote Stanton.

The beverage tax has already resulted in job cuts at one local grocery chain. “According to the study, Jeff Brown, who owns ShopRites and Fresh Grocers in food deserts across Philadelphia, has had to reduce hours of his unionized workforce equivalent to more than 200 full-time employees because of a steep drop-off in sales caused by the tax, which is applied to more than 3,000 beverages, including teas, sports drinks and diet and low-calorie options,” said the Tribune article.

Regardless of what tax proponents say, this hard data shows that beverages taxes have real consequences. It’s time politicians face the facts about these harmful taxes.