CNN reports that the falling dollar is jacking up the price of baked goods, even pizza. Mariella Pizza in Midtown Manhattan has had to continually raise its prices as the price for a 50 lbs. bag of flour has gone from $16 to $37 in just under a month.
"Over here people come to buy pizza, working people. How much [am] I going to raise the pizza now?" asks Joe Vicari. "Somebody come in here for two slices, and I take $5. I feel very, very bad for the person."
Wheat is skyrocketing as well, from the article: "At the Chicago Board of Trade a bushel, 60-pounds of wheat, now trades for more than $1100, more than two-and-1/2 times what it was just a year ago."
In addition to inflation caused by the sinking dollar, investment in ethanol (leading to more corn and less wheat produced) also has caused the up-swing, as have unusual weather conditions in the US, Europe and Australia.
Merchants in the article note that the cost is going to have to be passed along to the consumer. So add that to gasoline as another climbing cost that's pinching consumers.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Now, It's Personal
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Just a little something you made me think about: In 2004 I was delivering pizza in upstate NY. With the prices of gas and milk rising then (not even comparable to now)my boss had to raise the price of pizza for the first time since the 1980s. The area's economy was poor, conflict in Iraq or not, and the inflation of the price of pizza cost me my tips. With the price of gas also inflated at the time, the job was no longer profitable. Literally, NOT PROFITABLE. I moved south, to a metropolitan area with a better economy and got a "better" job. It is now 2008, and even with my new higher wages, I can't afford to eat. Pizza had been the main staple of my diet (I'm embarrassed to admit). Now the price is outrageous. My boyfriend and I decided to grocery shop and cook in an effort to save money. WELL, the price of pizza is outrageous for a reason. We can barely afford eggs and milk. Thank God we don't have a family, and it only breaks my heart to think of those that do. Where will it end? Is there a ceiling that the prices of milk, gas, eggs, basic every day needs will hit? Spinning out, what about the price of education? The price of life? It just blows my little mind...
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