Soaring Prices Threaten New Food Crisis

[Javamama]

I know alot of the country had bad crops, but my inlaws in NW Ohio had record yields of everything this year. Weird, huh? Now if I could get them to plant something for me... We can at least glean in the fields when we pop up for a visit.

 

[On Our own]

Got the chance to talk to a supermarket distribution manager. It was enlightening to say the least.

He said things were different based on region. Our region has not been nearly as hard hit as others, but it has taken a hit. Sales were down in the supermarket where I shop by between $5,000 and $8,000 a DAY.

Deflationary pressures were still hitting harder than inflationary pressures. Many products and brand names are going to be losing their shelf space as their products are not moving briskly enough. He said that particular store was throwing out the starbucks products (there is a seattles best IN the store but starbucks was on the shelf) and giving that shelf space over to cheaper coffee related products.

He said if there was anything to stock up on now it was coffee and chocolate. People still buy those and the inflationary pressures on them are hitting faster. He advised me to wait until the holiday sales came in early November to stock up on flour and yeast. But, he said that then I should really stock up as those prices should be pushing upward come January.

But, his main point was that deflationary pressures were stronger right now. Lowered supply was being met by lower demand so prices weren't really going anywhere.

He speculated - and he emphasized that this was really his opinion - that prices would stay stagnant overall until or unless fuel prices really began jumping. Then, he said prices will have to go up OR there will be supply issues as people will be unwilling to ship far if prices are not meeting the cost of the shipping.

At the end of it all he asked to join our barter circle.....

Just thought I'd share.

 

[Wifezilla]

Just had a coffee shop owner come in to night for a copy of her menu we have on file. She needs to mark up all her prices because coffee just jumped. Went to Walmart and their large bag of 8 o'clock whole beans was up $2 since last week.

 

[PamsPride]

My DH may be cutting out his two cup a day (of coffee from home) habit if this keeps up! Or only drink the free coffee from work!

 

[i_am2bz]

Thanks for the report, OOO...very enlightening. I mentioned the other day I was going to stock up on coffee!!

 

[TanksHill]

On Our Own ,where do you live??

g

 

[Javamama]

OK, I'm heading to Trader Joes to stock up on the large cans of WakeUp Blend! I can just imagine hubby's face if I stock the pantry with 20 large cans of coffee beans It would be priceless.
But really, I AM going to stock up on it.

 

[k0xxx]

As the dollar continues to drop, commodity prices are only going to increase (that's why the price of oil/gasoline in increasing at a time when it usually would be decreasing). The Fed is supposed to start another round of money printing in an effort to boost the economy by increasing inflation. Add that to the crop and harvest problems that have been plaguing farmers lately, and I believe that over the winter we may see some steep increases.

With that in mind, I finally got around to placing a bulk order yesterday. We ordered 600 pounds of Hard Red Winter Wheat (certified chemical free), 100 pounds of Soft White Winter Wheat, 100 pounds of corn, 5 gallons of Honey, 7 pounds of granulated Garlic, 5 pounds of Cinnamon, 6 lbs of Onion Powder, 10 lbs of Carob powder, 50 lbs of Dark Red Kidney Beans, 100 pounds of Navy Beans, 50 lbs of Oat Groats, 5 lbs of Baking Powder, 50 lbs of Sea Salt, and a bunch of the assorted extras like a few Gamma Seal lids, mylar bags, O2 absorbers, etc.

Mostly this was to replenish our stock of foods that we try to keep rotating, but we have started adding some extras. Next month, when our local group makes their group purchase, we'll probably add a few things to it also.

One bright note on the bulk purchase prices, was that the Hard Red Winter Wheat actually decreased from $23.50 for 50 pounds, to $16.50. This was due to them getting ready for the arrival of new wheat supplies into the warehouse. The lady that I ordered with didn't know what the new prices would be. Lucky timing on our part.

 

[On Our own]

On Our Own ,where do you live??

g

Middle east coast. The distributor's region covers New York to DC, Maryland and Delaware....

 

[Emerald]

We are heading for Sam's this weekend to pick up flour and if it is still in the $6 range for 25 lbs we are going to buy one AP and two Bread flours and I just made room in the freezer for two buckets at least to freeze them for about a week or two to kill off any kritters! I need to pick up some of the .99 clean frosting buckets to put it in today.
Plus, they have huge 5 or 6lb bags of pasta that we will also be picking up along with some more basil and oregano in bulk to add to my tomato sauce that was canned last month.
Olive oil is also on the list. there might be more if I see anything worth having. Maybe some powdered milk(as I do use that in my break baking).
I might talk the hubby into checking out Gorden foods too.