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That Twinkie's Gonna Cost You
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Tuesday, September 18, 2007
9:31:00 AM EDT
Hearing The Legend -- Taken By Trees
Looks like prices on bread and bread-like objects is about to go up a bit:
Blame the trend on a biblical bout of bad weather -- drought, freezes and floods -- that has decimated wheat crops and created shortages around the world. Wheat futures hit a record of $8.87 a bushel in Chicago trading last week before retreating to $8.75 on Monday. Still, that's a huge jump from $3.95 a year ago.
"This is a historic level. There is no way we can cut costs fast enough or deep enough to handle this type of huge increase in wheat," said Bill Nictakis, president of the fresh bakery division at Sara Lee Corp.
Sara Lee raised the prices of its own bread and bagels by 5% last week, and the cost of what it bakes for the private labels of retailers by 6% to 7%.
The article notes that the cost is likely to go down at some point in the future as farmers plant more wheat, but it's not likely to back down below $4 a bushel again; the new normal is going to be more expensive than it was before.
This stuff fascinating to me; it's interesting when stuff that's everyday, normal and expected, like bread and Twinkies, is affected by extraordinary things, like floods and droughts. It's a reminder that civilization really is a thin veneer over something much more chaotic and dangerous. Just something to think about when you're enjoying a snack cake.
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9:31:00 AM EDT
Hearing The Legend -- Taken By Trees
That Twinkie's Gonna Cost You
Looks like prices on bread and bread-like objects is about to go up a bit:
Blame the trend on a biblical bout of bad weather -- drought, freezes and floods -- that has decimated wheat crops and created shortages around the world. Wheat futures hit a record of $8.87 a bushel in Chicago trading last week before retreating to $8.75 on Monday. Still, that's a huge jump from $3.95 a year ago.
"This is a historic level. There is no way we can cut costs fast enough or deep enough to handle this type of huge increase in wheat," said Bill Nictakis, president of the fresh bakery division at Sara Lee Corp.
Sara Lee raised the prices of its own bread and bagels by 5% last week, and the cost of what it bakes for the private labels of retailers by 6% to 7%.
The article notes that the cost is likely to go down at some point in the future as farmers plant more wheat, but it's not likely to back down below $4 a bushel again; the new normal is going to be more expensive than it was before.
This stuff fascinating to me; it's interesting when stuff that's everyday, normal and expected, like bread and Twinkies, is affected by extraordinary things, like floods and droughts. It's a reminder that civilization really is a thin veneer over something much more chaotic and dangerous. Just something to think about when you're enjoying a snack cake.
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
9/18/07 12:35 PM