Read Me and lament.....your empty cupboards! (cost, dollars, money)

[momonkey]

Originally Posted by Reads2MUCH

Hey everybody, remember several months ago when we were informed by our wonderful mainstream media that food prices would be going up due to high fuel costs. That sounded reasonable I suppose, since most of our food has to be shipped to your local grocery store.

But then, BANG, we get a substantial reduction in fuel prices. And since the laws of cause and effect should still be in place now, we all expected our food prices to come down as well. Well guess what, they didn't. They have actually continued to rise on a nearly weekly basis and show no signs of stopping any time soon. Why is that exactly? I mean, if we are to believe that the prices went up because of fuel, shouldn't we expect relief in the markets once we get relief at the pump?

And please, before you folks start trying to tear me a new one and tell me I am wrong here is another one to ponder. Not only have our food prices gone up, but the food providers have also made the amounts you buy smaller than they were before. This is a process which has been going on steadily for years but has hit an all time high as of late. I mean seriously, do any of you remember the good old days when you could buy a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and not eat it in one bite! Next time you go shopping for your favorite or normal items, take a look at the weight on the box. If you usually do this you will notice that nearly every item you buy has been downsized while the price has gone up! Why is that?

I bring this to everyone's attention simply because many people have not noticed the subtle changes made every week to the products we buy. We are not only being squeezed for more money, we are receiving less product for that money as well. It is time we started to notice these things and start asking questions. We cannot allow these big corporations to walk all over us without at least asking some questions and letting them know that "Yes, we have noticed you are screwing us in more ways than one!"

All comments are welcome and appreciated. Now tell me, have you also noticed this trend in your local market? Because if you haven't start paying a little closer attention to the things you buy. You might be unhappily surprised!

Ethanol mandates and subsidies are politically driven by left wing tree hugger groups and farmers who have consistently failed to see the big picture, or just don't care what the rest of the world pays for food. First, the amount of energy required to produce ethanol exceeds is energy yield. Simply from an energy standpoint, it's a bad deal. Additionally, as long as we are converting food to fuel, the price of everything made with corn (most foods and livestock) will continue to rise. And since we all passed Econ 101, we know that anything that can be used as a substitute for corn (wheat, barley, oats plus all oil yielding seeds and grains) will also increase in price.

Ethanol Mandates: The Single Most Misguided Agricultural Program in Modern American History : TreeHugger

[DC at the Ridge]

I don't think food prices are going to go down. If the recession continues, they may decline a little, but they were forced up because distributor costs went up. The cost of diesel was significantly higher than the regular gas you buy at the pump, and when gas prices fell, diesel didn't fall as fast or as much. There are still fuel surcharges in place, but those fuel surcharges were reactive rather than pro-active. Which meant that a lot of independent trucking companies are gone. They couldn't pay $4.00 at the pump, and fight for fuel surcharge increases and wait 30-60 days for that money to show up when their operating costs were skyrocketing. And insurance has skyrocketed as well. Big trucking companies can absorb the increased operating costs. Independent truckers cannot. Why does that matter? Because having numerous independents made pricing competitive. Remove them, and the competitive edge to keep pricing down disappears. Then add to the mix the fact that many grocers are like retailers. They use a credit line to pay their vendors, to make payroll, and so on. And the costs for using a credit line rose significantly as a result of the economic crisis. If you could still get a credit line. Those costs make stores reluctant to lower prices as well. So two systems, the credit system and the distribution system, come together to inflate costs, and while consumers see their gas costs going down, the credit and distribution systems are not seeing their costs deflate all that much, which keeps grocery prices high.

[BigJon3475]

Originally Posted by Reads2MUCH

But keep in mind that by that reasoning the food on the market at the time of the major gas price increase was grown when gas was a bit cheaper. But that didn't stop the food prices from going up immediately. The same goes for gas. When the price per barrel goes up, we immediately feel it at the pump even though the gas in the ground was purchased for less. But when the price per barrel goes down we do not experience that same instantaneous response to the price of gas. Seems like the pendulum only swings one way with these big corporations. And that would be their way.

There was a huge lag in my area related to the price of fuel and surcharge/fuel increases with contractors. Probably 3-6 months would be my best guess.

But I haven't really noticed the increased cost anyways.

And has anyone not thought about the fight for "lower calories" is the push to lower portions. They remove a few grams of food and they might cut that 100 calories to make it competitive. Also a quick search through the forum for "groceries" or "grocery" would lead you to quiet a few grocery saving tips.

[Swampmonster]

Originally Posted by BigJon3475

There was a huge lag in my area related to the price of fuel and surcharge/fuel increases with contractors. Probably 3-6 months would be my best guess.

But I haven't really noticed the increased cost anyways.

And has anyone not thought about the fight for "lower calories" is the push to lower portions. They remove a few grams of food and they might cut that 100 calories to make it competitive. Also a quick search through the forum for "groceries" or "grocery" would lead you to quiet a few grocery saving tips.

Actually Jon,that same rep we had to do away with( uhhh,that didn't sound good) yesterday was talking about the portion sizes going down and the push for reduced calories in the ad campaigns,but here's the rub in that...it is being pushed to us(retailers) as a money maker due to less per package,a bit lower price,but not enough reduction in price to cover the lost product...in other words they sell you less for near the same money and it really turns around to be a sly price increase...A really wormy deal to pull on consumers.

[TnHilltopper]

Just wait until this time next year when a number of people will be burning their cabinets to keep warm.

They say one of the last gasps of a dying empire is to loot the state, I think it is more like the human body going into ketosis where it begins to feed upon itself.

Prices have most certainly shot up at our local market and I know that this summer, if I have to use a sharp stick to plow, I will have a large enough garden to provide at least 25% of my food and can the rest. Hopefully, this will be enough to offset the cost increases.

[Randomstudent]

Originally Posted by Reads2MUCH

Hey everybody, remember several months ago when we were informed by our wonderful mainstream media that food prices would be going up due to high fuel costs. That sounded reasonable I suppose, since most of our food has to be shipped to your local grocery store.

But then, BANG, we get a substantial reduction in fuel prices. And since the laws of cause and effect should still be in place now, we all expected our food prices to come down as well. Well guess what, they didn't. They have actually continued to rise on a nearly weekly basis and show no signs of stopping any time soon. Why is that exactly? I mean, if we are to believe that the prices went up because of fuel, shouldn't we expect relief in the markets once we get relief at the pump?

And please, before you folks start trying to tear me a new one and tell me I am wrong here is another one to ponder. Not only have our food prices gone up, but the food providers have also made the amounts you buy smaller than they were before. This is a process which has been going on steadily for years but has hit an all time high as of late. I mean seriously, do any of you remember the good old days when you could buy a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and not eat it in one bite! Next time you go shopping for your favorite or normal items, take a look at the weight on the box. If you usually do this you will notice that nearly every item you buy has been downsized while the price has gone up! Why is that?

I bring this to everyone's attention simply because many people have not noticed the subtle changes made every week to the products we buy. We are not only being squeezed for more money, we are receiving less product for that money as well. It is time we started to notice these things and start asking questions. We cannot allow these big corporations to walk all over us without at least asking some questions and letting them know that "Yes, we have noticed you are screwing us in more ways than one!"

All comments are welcome and appreciated. Now tell me, have you also noticed this trend in your local market? Because if you haven't start paying a little closer attention to the things you buy. You might be unhappily surprised!

Everything you mentioned my friend is the magic of inflation. In part caused by record deficits and a decline in the value of the dollar.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by muleskinner

We own a General Store and sell groceries along with several other things....we are STILL getting nailed with fuel surcharges for deliveries and I dropped a supplier yesterday due to that fact.The fuel is cheaper now than when the surcharges were added in the first place.It's all about the rip off now days and pushing consumers as far as they can push.

I'm curious if you gave that supplier your reason and what their response was?

[Swampmonster]

Originally Posted by TnHilltopper

Just wait until this time next year when a number of people will be burning their cabinets to keep warm.

They say one of the last gasps of a dying empire is to loot the state, I think it is more like the human body going into ketosis where it begins to feed upon itself.

Prices have most certainly shot up at our local market and I know that this summer, if I have to use a sharp stick to plow, I will have a large enough garden to provide at least 25% of my food and can the rest. Hopefully, this will be enough to offset the cost increases.

It's the price of meat,dairy AND produce that has skyrocketed but yet the price of cattle is down,the fuel is down etc etc etc...the producers and the retailers are not making any money and the consumer is really screwed....One of the few things we could really make money on(that made up for breaking even in other areas) was milk...in oct. we were paying 2.13 per gal for it and retailing it for 4.09 and that was less than the 4.79 srp from our supplier....we kept getting a bump in price every single delivery...NOW our only real money maker is up to 3.57 per gal and I haven't raised the price so as not to gouge people and although I'm still making money off of it,my profit is way down because of product increases like that.You can't make a quarter per loaf of bread,canned goods you might as well just give them away at cost now because you(retailers) get no breaks on them and the consumers go to Wal-Mart to buy them where they can buy them at retail cheaper than I can buy it wholesale.We are ALL suffering for this crap...consumers and small retailers alike are the losers.

[TnHilltopper]

Originally Posted by muleskinner

It's the price of meat,dairy AND produce that has skyrocketed but yet the price of cattle is down,the fuel is down etc etc etc...the producers and the retailers are not making any money and the consumer is really screwed....One of the few things we could really make money on(that made up for breaking even in other areas) was milk...in oct. we were paying 2.13 per gal for it and retailing it for 4.09 and that was less than the 4.79 srp from our supplier....we kept getting a bump in price every single delivery...NOW our only real money maker is up to 3.57 per gal and I haven't raised the price so as not to gouge people and although I'm still making money off of it,my profit is way down because of product increases like that.You can't make a quarter per loaf of bread,canned goods you might as well just give them away at cost now because you(retailers) get no breaks on them and the consumers go to Wal-Mart to buy them where they can buy them at retail cheaper than I can buy it wholesale.We are ALL suffering for this crap...consumers and small retailers alike are the losers.

The cattle market here has pretty much fallen to zip as well, not to mention the cost of round bales has doubled in the past two years. Hard wood (and softwood to a lesser degree) industry is one of the primary sources of income in this area and while the price of wood/building materials has shot up, mills aren't sawing many logs because demand has fallen to the point this entire area is dotted with empty haulers and out of work timberjacks. Many have been seeking work in our gas and oil industry here but with the price of these falling again, this has been suspended as well.

I'm working with a couple ladies around here to do a communal garden on a much larger scale. Everyone pitches in for seed, labor and time and we divvy up the produce. Cuts the cost of transport and in this area, just about any veggie can be grown.

[Swampmonster]

Originally Posted by burdell

I'm curious if you gave that supplier your reason and what their response was?

Yes I did..I'm not the least bit shy....

When I looked at the bill I said"W T F is this fuel surcharge still being invoiced to me for you thieving bast#%$"(cross my heart I did)...And he said "From july till oct we lost over a million dollars on our delivery trucks"...I then said "That's BS or you wouldn't be standing here talking to me right now,you would be looking for a job"....after a bunch of BSing he said it was an "insurance" against future losses basically.

I got on the phone and called a couple of more suppliers first that sold meat from the same packing houses and in the exact same packages for nearly the same money with NO fuel/delivery surcharge and made an order with the cheapest one I could find,I then called the idiot back that had been gouging me and cancelled a big money meat order and told him to call me when he got his crap in one pile and his company quit gouging.All of a sudden he wanted to "make an exception" on the surcharges(proof he was gouging?I'd say so) and he knew it was a hardship on the older people in our community who lived on a fixed income and count on us and blah blah blah...I told him I would talk to him later and hung up(MY turn to lie).My wife called from the store today and said he's called back twice this morning to see what time I'm coming in.

It absolutely kills me to see a lady in her 70s come in,order a pound of fresh bacon and watch her wince when you price it to her or a mom with kids come in there and buy the bare minimum of what it takes to get them by for a few days and watch her figuring up her money as she's picking each item up.I'm not really a good business man because I end up giving a ton of stuff away to those people(near date stuff that is still good for resale tho') and making my wife mad enough to kill me in the process(she has business sense)...I just can't help it,it hurts me to see anyone do without if I have it to spare.I'm a weirdo I guess(at least that's what my ol' lady says about it anyway)