Durum Harvest

[Artemis Windsong]

In the Great Plains states, the report is the Durum harvest will be 50% of usual because of bad weather and flooding. This will translate into higher pasta prices since pasta is made from durum.

I don't know how much pasta is in warehouses. I don't know if grocers will use their cost basis to price the retail or raise prices on the news.

I know some of the fresh fruits we get in the north have been harvested and stored for up to one year. A local grocer had their produce person give a talk at a meeting I was at a year ago. The apples in the stores now have been in storage a year.

I doubt the price of pasta in the store will go down after the yields return to normal.

I just paid 37 cents for regular size store brand macaroni and cheese. I think the days of 10 to 15 cent boxes are over.

[Tiny]

I guess it depends on how much of the wheat grown in the US is actually used to produce pasta for sale in the US.

Don't we export something like 30% to 50% of the wheat we grow to other countries? I guess it will depend on how flexible our contracts with other countries are - can we sell them less and keep more at home...

Don't we import alot of base ingredients from other countries? The wheat short fall might not really impact us that much. I think the overall costs (transportation, manufacture) and basic inflation are what are causing basic food prices to rise.

Boxes o' name brand pasta are rarely less than $1.00 a box on Sale in my neck of the woods and are generally a loss leader kinda sale (or a clear out the old packaging stock kinda sale). I guess this means there will be fewer loss leaders on pasta.

I did notice that most pastas no longer come in 1 pound boxes - they are all 12 ounce or 13.5 ounces... that happened over a year ago though. Even the mac and cheese boxes have fewer servings - use to be 4 serves and now they are anywhere from 2.5 servings to 3.5 servings... which oddly enough might be good for people who consider a box of mac and cheese one serving - less food per serving might translate to a smaller waist.

[Deleted]

I notice it more on bread. $3 a loaf is now cheap around here! Pasta has gone up as well, but it still seems economical to me.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I will have to start paying more attention to prices.

[kadee79]

laterbloomer, do you have day-old bread stores up there?

I buy all my bread items at the day-old store & freeze! I pay about 1/2 the price that the grocery stores have.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Actually, there is a GLOBAL wheat shortage that has been worsening for several years. That coupled with the drought and extreme heat in the U.S. will make all products made with wheat flour of any variety more expensive in the months to come. One DS has an anaphylactic allergy to soy. Many manufacturers of wheat flour-based foods are starting to substitute soy flour for some of the wheat flour in their products (check your labels!) to offset the dwindling supply and increased wheat prices. We are down to just a handful of brands of breads, crackers, and pastas at this point because of the substitutions. He's an active teen -- plays several sports competitively -- so carbs are a staple in his diet. Around here, I am lucky to find store brand pasta for under $1. Last week I had DH pick up 20 boxes of various shapes of store brand pasta on sale at 79 cents/box and was thrilled to pay that price. Gone are the days of 4/$1!!!!! I prefer whole wheat pasta, but can no longer afford to serve only that so I cook half white and half whole wheat. And "good" bread with whole wheat flour and no high fructose corn syrup or heavy perservatives is over $3 ON SALE!!!!! Yes, I often rely on my ABM. And I have considered making pasta from scratch, but *sometimes* I actually like to leave the kitchen, LOL. Besides, plain pasta is a staple, not a convenience food, to me. Stouffer's meat lasagna is a convenience food -- ready to heat and eat. But lasagna noodles are just one ingredient. My point is, I'll break down and start making my own ingredients if I have to, but that will mean the economy has really, really gone down the tubes, kwim?

[weltschmerz]

"Actually, there is a GLOBAL wheat shortage that has been worsening for several years. That coupled with the drought and extreme heat in the U.S. will make all products made with wheat flour of any variety more expensive in the months to come."
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You're absolutely correct. Even Canada's Breadbasket was still underwater as of a few weeks ago from the massive spring flooding. Expect prices to skyrocket.