Rising food prices are helping boost sales and profits for U.S. grocery chains, as some retailers said that consumers so far are accepting higher prices.

       Supermarket operators including Albertsons Cos., Kroger Co. and others are reporting rising sales, driven by increasing food prices and consumers continuing to prepare many meals at home. Profits are rising for grocery chains too as they raise prices of many products rather than absorb all increases, though some executives have said that inflation is starting to alter consumers’ shopping habits.

       The U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday that inflation grew to a four-decade high of 8.5% in March from the same month a year ago. Food prices rose 8.8% from last year, with grocery prices increasing 10%.

       Albertsons executives said Tuesday that the Boise, Idaho-based grocer, which operates its namesake stores as well as Jewel-Osco and Safeway chains, is managing inflation well and gaining market share. Consumers so far haven’t made big changes in how they shop, executives said, though they expect low-income shoppers to start buying fewer groceries later in the year.

       “We are giving people choices," Vivek Sankaran, chief executive of Albertsons, said on a conference call with analysts. Shoppers are buying items at a range of prices, coming into stores more often and may consolidate trips to save money as fuel prices increase, he said.

       Mr. Sankaran said that he expects inflation to moderate and supply challenges to improve in the second half of 2022.

       Increasing food price inflation and grocers’ ability to pass prices has been a meaningful contributor to food retailers’ earnings, Wells Fargo & Co. analysts wrote in a research note Tuesday. Demand, historic inflation and “aggressive industry pass through of pricing" have created tailwinds for Albertsons, they wrote, though consumers’ acceptance of higher prices could wane as the year goes on.

       Rising prices are playing out across the supermarket industry, executives said, as some food manufacturers announce higher prices weekly. The war in Ukraine is expected to further lift prices of ingredients like wheat, and grain-based products like flour and pasta already are getting more expensive, they said. Kroger said last month that price increases in meat and grocery products have been the highest.

       As prices keep rising, some consumer demand is cooling and shoppers are starting to trade down. People are buying fewer items, while searching for more deals and switching to cheaper private-label brands, grocery executives said. Low- and middle-income consumers are buying more store brands, which tend to be cheaper, analysts said. U.S. grocery sales grew 6.4% in terms of dollars, while declining 4.1% in terms of units sold, for the five weeks ended April 2, according to NielsenIQ.

       Albertsons said identical sales grew 7.5% for the three months ended Feb. 26 and increased nearly 20% from two years ago. Quarterly profit was $455.1 million, compared with a $144.2 million loss a year ago, the company said.

       Kroger said in March that its identical sales grew 4% for the latest quarter from a year ago and 15% from two years ago, with quarterly profit also up from the same period in 2021. Kroger executives said then that they expect inflation to moderate in the second half of the year and that consumers continue to cook more meals at home.

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       For its current fiscal year, Albertsons said it expects sales to increase 2% to 3% in fiscal 2022, with adjusted profit ranging $2.70 to $2.85 a share. Executives said that they expect profit margins to fall slightly because the company will administer fewer Covid-19 vaccines this year. Shares declined about 5% Tuesday.

       Retailers that sell a range of foods have more room when it comes to pricing, industry analysts said. The biggest grocery chains have been able to offset pressure on profitability by selling store brands that carry higher profit margins, and expanding nongrocery businesses such as advertising.

       Food inflation will continue for at least the next six months and U.S. consumers are so far mostly accepting supermarkets’ price increases, Bank of America analysts wrote in a note last week. Inflation will drive shoppers to stores with more variety, including Kroger, they wrote.

       Food manufacturers have said they plan to further increase prices of their products as the Covid-19 pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, push up supply-chain costs. Conagra Brands Inc. said this month that its sales volume has remained strong despite higher prices, though profit took a hit. The company said that rising ingredient prices and trucking costs are prompting the maker of Slim Jim meat sticks and Healthy Choice frozen meals to raise prices again.

       Inflation is pushing up prices in restaurant dining rooms and drive-throughs, as well. Restaurant prices rose at a slower rate last month, but are still up 6.9% over the past year, the largest 12-month increase since December 1981. Some restaurant owners have said they are worried that consumers may scale back on eating out in response to higher menu prices.

       —Heather Haddon contributed to this article.

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