Wheat prices are sky-high and rising

[housewolf]

Saw this on King Arthur Flours site today. This could have major repercussions for all at the supermarket in coming months. They're not just talking about the 5 lb bags of flour we buy for home baking. Think of all the things wheat is used for...



To our valued flour customers:

You’ve undoubtedly heard the news about rising foods costs; perhaps you’ve already felt the impact on your pocketbook. Global wheat prices are at an all-time high, well over triple the cost per bushel since spring of last year. The combination of poor wheat harvests in parts of the world, low carryover stocks from last year, and high energy and input costs have created a very grim situation for wheat prices, which leads of course to higher flour prices.

Although all King Arthur Flour is milled from wheat grown here in North America, where the harvest was plentiful last year, global demand on our domestic supply has forced the price of wheat sky-high. We’re doing all we can to keep the cost of flour down by making our business as efficient as possible, but there’s simply no way for us to absorb entirely the impact of current record-breaking wheat prices.

Despite recent increases in prices for our products, you can be assured that King Arthur Flour is not compromising on product quality. We’re still providing the best-performing flour you’ll find. While the unstable market may convince other suppliers to use lower-quality wheat, King Arthur Flour will continue to maintain the highest and most consistent standards for protein content and product performance. Our flour will continue to be the best-quality flour in America, as it’s been since 1790.

We appreciate your understanding of raised flour and mix prices during these difficult market conditions.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/about/high-wheat-prices.html

[housewolf]

1. Then again, I also saw this:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com.nyud.net:8090/shop/images/1-1201017562079.jpg

Quintessential Pecan Sticky Buns
Soft, milk- and butter-enriched yeast dough is stuffed with aromatic cinnamon filling and glazed with a sticky, sugary topping loaded with pecans… Have we piqued your interest?! This sticky bun relies on two of our proprietary products to earn its "quintessential" label, but you can certainly make the buns without them.

Here's the recipe:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=DefaultRecipe&recipe_id=1201017562079

I gotta give these a try... maybe even tonight!

:9

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

2. I can't believe the prices at the market.

Everything has gone up.

As an aside, one DIL is a bit of a RWer. Mostly from her father. So she's talking about poor people getting food stamps & so many being overweight. I very gently (as gently as I could) pointed out that junk food is cheap. I can buy a quart of spaghetti sauce for what? a couple of buck? There is no way I can make a quart using fresh tomatoes, real herbs & spices etc. & no HFCS for 2 bucks. Not unless the garden is up & going in the middle of summer.

[KatyaR]

3. I just stocked up on flour tonight--

two boxes of bread flour, and 5 pounds each of wheat flour and all-purpose flour. I should have bought more bread flour--it's hard to come by at times. So far it looks like prices haven't gone up much if any--I think I got all that for less than $15.

[NMDemDist2]

4. yes, I'm just sorry I didn't buy more flour to stick in the freezer when they were onsale

for $1 for 5# bags over the holidays.....

I bought 3 bags of bread flour and 2 of APF but am out of APF and have only one bread flour bag left

sigh