Food prices to rise at grocery stores: industry

[UpInArms]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2007-03-07T224816Z_01_N07255353_RTRUKOC_0_US-ETHANOL-FOOD-PRICES.xml&src=rss

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumers will see higher grocery bills this year thanks to a surge in wholesale corn prices, pushed higher by an ethanol fuel boom, that will be passed on by food manufacturers, the industry said on Wednesday.

"It's inevitable. Everyone of our members is talking about this now," said Cal Dooley, head of The Grocery Manufacturers/Food Products Association, a trade group representing the food, beverage and consumer products industry. The group's members include Coca-Cola CO., Hormel Foods and Kellogg Co..

"You're beginning to see it, but you'll certainly see increased evidence of these (price increases) in another six months," he added.

The price increase will be felt across a large swatch of products -- from ketchup and beverages that depend on corn sweeteners to beef, poultry and pork where animals are fed corn.

Soaring U.S. demand for ethanol fuel made from corn has pushed the grain to its highest prices in a decade, which in turn is expected to reduce wheat and soybean plantings in the coming years, likely resulting in higher flour and meal prices.

...more...

[Deja Q]

1. As prices didn't go down when the price of gas had... fleecing like Mary's horny little lamb...

Ethanol is also a pipedream.

[Buzz Clik]

2. Prices have already been rising.

It's been a dizzying thing to watch. One item goes down while two or three sneak up. The one that went down, goes back up to a price higher than before, while one of the the three that went up will drop a little to make it look like a sale. My food bill is roughly 15% higher than it was this time last September.

[proud patriot]

3. lovely

x(

[SoCalDem]

71. Coming to a store near YOU!.. $10 boxes of Cap'n Crunch

and $15 bottles of Mrs. Butterworth's

But hey.. it's a small price to pay to keep those Hummers on the road..:sarcasm:

[AX10]

4. I've noticed them rising since early 2005.

[Buzz Clik]

6. yes, indeedy.

[ixion]

27. yep, me too...

grocery bill keeps going up, just like gas and utils. everything is going up except for the amount of money I'm making in a year. :-(

[MaineDem]

31. Absolutely! Fresh produce prices are going out of sight.

Lettuce at $2 a head is one example.

Trying to eat healthy is very expensive!

[frankenforpres]

76. totally agree

you can by tons and tons of food really cheap if you are willing to eat processed junk, but fruits and veggies are getting very expensive. meats seem pretty flat

[OhioChick]

5. Prices to Increase...

While wages decrease.

[musette_sf]

7. "Coca-Cola CO., Hormel Foods and Kellogg Co.."

three companies whose products i never buy.

prices are getting higher every day in my area. i used to shop at the nice local chain, now it's Costco for things i never used to buy there, and FoodMax for almost everything else. also Trader Joe's but dang, lots of their prices are increasing too.

this whole ethanol thing is a load of (corn-fed therefore exponentially more expensive) bull dookie. SO many more cost-efficient alternative fuels. but they gotta make those big payouts to Big Ag.

[nealmhughes]

16. Died in the wool Southerners HAVE to have Coca Cola, Karo syrup with biscuits,

and for pecan pies. I saw Coke products at $1.59 last week, but Pepsi was $0.99 for 2 liters. I bought ten bottles. The next week, Coke was down to $1.01, and I bought 20 liters...I might drink 3 liters a week, at most, but I say make hay while the sun shines.

I had bought some off-brand 3 liter bottle when a friend came down to visit a couple of weeks ago and we agred, "It isn't half bad with a lot of ice and two shots of Jim Beam."

[tridim]

8. Corn Syrup is in everything, bend over consumers!

I say it's a great time to go back to using cane sugar for sweetening instead of HF-corn syrup.

[demigoddess]

39. cane sugar is probably better for you , the obesity problem has cropped up

since they started putting high fructose corn syrup in everything. I guessed maybe it was because they did not want to buy cane sugar from cuba. Hf corn syrup has been implicated in our diabetes epidemic in adults and children.

[shanti]

47. absolutely!

imo, it really started with "new coke". remember that one? that was the switch.

[Taoschick]

77. It's not just HFCS

Our bodies weren't designed to ingest 100 lbs of sugar a year. Take a look at food labels in the grocery store. Almost EVERYTHING has added sugar. Even countries like Australia that don't depend on HFCS are experiencing increases in obesity.

[Delphinus]

42. I'm grateful that I've dropped HFCS from my diet.

I went through my fridge, my shelves, and my icebox and threw away everything that had HFCS in it after I read about how it impacted health. It's hard to find foods that don't have it - and you pay through the nose for the "purer" brands, but, with not having insurance, I figured this would be one more way to keep myself healthy.

I also have to cook a lot of food from scratch since so much prepackaged food is made with HFCS.

[shanti]

48. you'd think

that the food industry would be getting the message that WE DON'T LIKE HFCS in our foods!!!!! i live in an area that's considered a test zone for new products (grocery outlet gets a lot of these new products), and there has been one brand of coffee creamer that was sold with the emphasis on soy and SUGAR, not hfcs. i really liked it and definitely would buy it over the others simply because of this fact.

hfcs is the debbil!

[ProudDad]

61. High Fructose Corn Syrup

is BAD, BAD, BAD for you. Causes diabetes among other things.

It also enriches ADM and Cargill -- two of the most evil companies in the world...

I NEVER buy anything that contains HFCS....


On edit: Another great thing I did, thanks to my Oncology RN girlfriend, was cut down on meat, etc. I'm eating somewhat lower on the food chain, I'm eating less and exercising.

The best response to higher food prices is eat less, eat better, don't shop Wal-Mart -- buy used and local...

[cosmicdot]

64. ding

[Sherman A1]

9. This is the world in which I work

prices have been going up very steadily and very sharply over the last several years. I watch it as I sort the tags for the aisles each week. Some are done very stealthily (hitting the off season products) and others are just swaths of advances. Our local market has seen something of a price war of late as the chains are posturing, however this comes after a very long period of price advances. I refer to it as "Now marked down from our previous outrageous pricing".

[Whoa_Nelly]

10. Food prices have already helped me lose weight

No joke. Am buying less, making more with what I do buy, and completely avoiding buying frozen prepared foods. Am probably eating more healthfully, but even so, it's getting so expensive to even buy whole foods. Have cut my monthly grocery budget by almost 1/2 ove the last couple of months.

[whistle]

11. Food, gas, power, property taxes, insurance, services, etc....we are

...already into hyper-inflation for working class Americans. It is all failed republican economic policies, Bush's war and complete government mismanagement. Economic breakdown will begin very soon

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

12. Produce prices, in particular tomatoes, have been ridiculous...

even last summer they were bad.

[ekelly]

22. And why is chicken so expensive?

Does anyone know why chicken is so expensive?

[qwlauren35]

33. Animals being fed corn are now more expensive to raise.

Because it costs more to feed them.

So if chickens are fed corn, then the price on chicken will rise.

I wonder if hunting will go on the rise. I hear deer meat is rather tasty, and rabbit meat makes good Brunswick stew...

[Carni]

45. OMG you're not kidding...

My husband is like a tomato freak of some kind and has to have them in the house at all times...they are costing as much as meat does.

We did stumble onto an Asian Hispanic market recently that has tomatoes at .89 cents a pound but unfortunately it's about a 40 mile drive lol

[Shallah Kali]

63. Do you have a bit of yard or a place to grow tomatos in containers? they grow great in pots

I love tomatoes and it drives me nuts that I can't grow them in the winter. I simply *won't* pay 3.99 a lb for a real tomato. I will suffer until summer. And next fall I will bring one inside and see if I can keep it alive andd producing!

[kestrel91316]

13. I try not to buy ANYTHING with HFCS in it. It's not good for you anyway.

It's just a cheap flavoring and sugar substitute devoid of any genuine nutritional value.

I cook mostly from scratch. Guess I DO need to stock up on cornmeal while it's still dirt cheap.

[mcscajun]

14. Better plan on freezing it for long-term storage.

Rancidity, you know.

[kestrel91316]

37. Nah. I'm not buying a ten-year supply, lol. I've had grains and such on

the shelf over three years and never been able to tell it's not fresh.

A theoretical problem, as opposed to a real-life issue, IMHO.

[frylock]

15. this is good news for the soylent green industry

[NMDemDist2]

18. ROFL

your sigline is the kicker on that post too

:yourock:

[anotherdrew]

20. watch out, the Soylent Gasoline industry may be their next move n/t

[w4rma]

23. Isn't it basically already? (nt)

[bbinacan]

17. Good Damn Almighty

We are trying to find alternate fuels and now people are bitching about higher corn prices (and their byproducts), WTF do we want? Cleaner energy or cheap corn? And yes I know that ethanol can be produced by other means. Many have said they would pay more in taxes, etc. but are now pissed about paying more for the corn that may help with our energy situation.

Good Grief.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

25. Corn is a crappy base for ethanol

It's a give away to the corporate farms.

Which is more important, food or fuel?

Mexican peasants are rioting because the price of tortillas has doubled. It was a bad choice scientifically and economically.

[Shallah Kali]

62. One study showed corn ethanol only gave 25% more energy than it took to make it

Other crops had a much higher energy return like switchgrass -

http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2006/01/switch-to-switchgrass.asp
http://whyfiles.org/161renew_en/2.html

[SoCalDem]

72. What do 'Merkins want?

big-ass cars
cheap gas
cheap electricity
$20 hr jobs
cheap healthcare
yummy cheap food (and lots of it)
control of the world
poor folks/women/dark people "in their place"

that's about it..

[Zhade]

19. Ethanol - the biggest waste of time and subsidies.

NT!

[Tesha]

29. Not for Red State farmers, it's not a waste!

> Ethanol - the biggest waste of time and subsidies.

Not for Red State farmers, it's not a waste!

It's "that damn commie government" that they
keep trying to vote out of existence handing
them money so they can bitch some more.

Tesha

[catzies]

21. That's the same Cal Dooley who was the Rep. for the 20th Congr. Dist of CA!

"The Fightin' 20th!"


http://www.fpa-food.org/content/about/staff.asp

[kimsterdemster]

24. Jeez..

Tell me something I didn't already know :shrug:


I'm far from a christian fundie, but there is a place to buy food in western OK in order to feed your family.

http://www.angelfoodministries.com

[truthisfreedom]

26. Ridiculous fuel. A total waste of time. We should be using electric vehicles powered

by wind and solar energy. Corn is for eating, not making ethanol, which is unbelievably wasteful.

[annabanana]

28. "You're beginning to see it" - hahahahahahaha

Really! Shrinking packages have been on the shelves for years. (They are now in the process of downgrading a pound of pasta to 12 oz)

This is only news to some Wall Street wanker who hasn't been in a grocery store, like, EVER.

[RebelOne]

30. I'm so glad I'm a vegetarian.

At least I won't have to pay the high prices for meat.

[mac56]

32. Do you eat corn?

nm

[RebelOne]

40. Occasionally.

[Javaman]

54. I'm not a vegetarian, but I because of price I haven't eaten meat in ages. nt

[jollyreaper2112]

34. GOOD!

Corn syrup is cheaper than sugar. Change that and we'll go back to normal sweeteners.

[Lance_Boyle]

46. Halfway there.

We also need to help our government overcome its Cubaphobia in order to permit cane sugar imports. And maybe give some corn fields over to sugar beets where feasible.

[Javaman]

55. Now that Cuba has oil, I'm sure that will happen sooner than you think nt

[Tempest]

35. Another cause of price increases is from immigration raids

Because of immigration raids by ICE, farmers can't find enough workers to harvest crops and they are left in the fields to rot.

[jayfish]

36. Ummmm... Don't We Create An Enormous...

surplus of corn year-after-year due to subsidies? Like enough to feed a small country?

Jay

[Delphinus]

43. I don't think so ...

anymore, at least.

Seems I'd read not too long ago that the food supplies of the world were down to 48 days (or so). I'll look in my files at home and see if I can find out - perhaps someone else will jump in too.

[jayfish]

44. From The American Corn Growers Association.

Revised, February 16, 2006

http://www.acga.org/renewable_energy/reconcept.htm

As case in point, concerning corn production in the US would be that of the current two billion bushel surplus (50 million metric tons) currently on hand.

I can barely imagine so much corn.

Jay

[The2ndWheel]

38. Awwww, and we thought we were going to get something for nothing

Foiled again! It would've worked too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids.

[Occulus]

41. I went shopping yesterday.

All the fixings to serve spaghetti dinner for some friends (meat for the sauce was already in the freezer and I already had one jar of sauce) and a case of beer: $81.

GOING to rise? GOING to??

[ProudDad]

65. Gad???

Was it the gold leaf for the topping that ran up the price??? :-)

What are the details???

I make enough spaghetti sauce for about 6 or 7 dinners for about $10. Of course, I make it with either no meat or slices of Chicken Sausage...

[randycrow]

49. Harry Reid is a big supporter of bio fuels

Putting corn farmers in the gasoline business has not reduced the price of gasoline one bit. Corn price increases are inflationary. Deja vu all over again. Neocons stole us blind by manipulating hyper inflation in 1973 and 1979 and they are doing it again now and Neocon Reid putting corn farmers in the gasoline business is part of a bad guys deliberate hyper inflation steal us blind plan. Grocery store inflation will trigger interest rate increases and there is nothing more inflationary than increasing interest rates. Do you remember 16 percent Fed funds interest rates in the early 1980s. I can still taste them. They are poison. Logic dictates Reid cannot be a bad guy behind corn farmer inflation which hurts us horribly here and a good guy Majority Leader yonder, Iraq, Iran.

[Javaman]

56. Check out Obama's site. Same deal. Big into the ethanol myth. nt

[amandabeech]

66. Illinois is the No. 2 corn producer after Iowa.

Obama is just voting his district, like he does for Illinois coal miners when he touts coal-to-oil.

Ethanol also helps determine senate and electoral votes in a few Corn Belt states. Iowa, the No. 1 corn producer is also the first caucus and a swing state. Corn is also important in Minnesota and Wisconsin, which are usually in our column but in close races.

Nebraska and South Dakota are currently non-starters for us, but each has two senators and a couple of electoral votes that could come in handy in a close election. Any Dem senator, no matter how conservative, helps us maintain our control of Senate committees.

[Javaman]

50. Yeah, corn. Let's all just ignore that the price of gas has gone up...

AMD stock will be rising on this news.

[rec_report]

51. Well, someone has to pay Monsanto for their GM 'food' and cow cloning n/t

[demigoddess]

75. could it be that no one wanted to actually eat the GM corn and so they

have to use it for making fuel for cars. I have read that GM crops still have to be sprayed and in the meantime they are contaminating nearby non-GM crops. I guess they just cannot get it through their head that GM is a failure.

[BluePatriot]

52. "to" rise? "TO" Rise???

Don't get me started on grocery bills lately.

[WePurrsevere]

68. Yeah, really. That was my reaction to this as well.

I'm so tired of the spin this admin is putting on this economy. Let them live ONLY on what those earning minimum/low wages or social security do for 2 years, preferably while living in the north country, and see how well they like it. :grr:

My DH and I are on disabled and on a fixed income and since we don't buy a lot of other "stuff" the food and gas prices prices hit us really hard. By the end of the year our dollar doesn't go anywhere near as far as it did at the beginning and it's usually just in time for the Winter heating season. I'm so darn tired of using pasta and rice for most of our meals to make our food dollar stretch. x(

[Name removed]

69. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[neverforget]

53. But inflation is under control because all we have to do is "exclude

the volatile food and energy sectors". Everytime I hear that from the government it makes me want to puke because it is so disengenious. Maybe if I excluded my mortgage payment from my bills my income would look better. :eyes: :puke:

[Megahurtz]

57. Everyone Ought to Boycott Foods Containing Corn Syrup.

That unhealthy stuff makes everyone fat anyway.

[Trajan]

58. They love to organize into these Trade Groups .....

And promote price fixing through the effective collusion provided by membership in these groups that enhance their mutual benefit, but they HATE when workers organize into groups, like Unions and Guilds, to enhance their mutual benefit ....

Adam Smith:

"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."
-- Adam Smith, Wealth Of Nations

"Our merchants and master-manufacturers complain much of the bad effects of high wages in raising the price, and thereby lessening the sale of their goods both at home and abroad. They say nothing concerning the bad effects of high profits. They are silent with regard to the pernicious effects of their own gains. They complain only of those of other people."
-- Adam Smith, Wealth Of Nations

"We rarely hear, it has been said, of the combinations of masters (Trade Groups), though frequently of those of workmen (Unions and Guilds). But whoever imagines, upon this account, that masters rarely combine, is as ignorant of the world as of the subject. Masters are always and everywhere in a sort of tacit, but constant and uniform combination, not to raise the wages of labor above their actual price."
-- Adam Smith, Wealth Of Nations

"Whenever the legislature attempts to regulate differences between masters and their workmen, its counsellors are always the masters. When the regulation, therefore, is in favor of the workmen, it is always just and equitable; but it is sometimes otherwise when in favor of the masters."
-- Adam Smith, Wealth Of Nations


-----------------

I think of the 'Lundberg' Letter, which I have always viewed more as a set of directives instead of 'news', letting the different marketers raise prices based simply on Lundberg's word .....

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

59. I'm on unemployment right now and trying to make the $$s stretch

is tough enough. I pray I'll have a job soon...

[ProudDad]

60. Where's Hugo Chavez

when we need him.

Oh, I remember now, we got bush...

[Vinca]

67. So how does corn make a navel orange cost 85 cents?

(The going rate at our local market this week.)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

70. Not only have the prices been rising; the packages have been getting smaller...

So foods whose appear to have remained stable over the past few years, have actually gone up.

[rainbow4321]

73. Walmart grocery prices up

Family went to one in Oklahoma and noticed items prices were alot higher..the cashier told her that WalMart went thru the store and raised their food prices last weekend.

[leftyclimber]

74. I'm sure glad I own a tent.

Don't know how the cats are going to take it when we have to move into it in order to afford food, though. :shrug: