Bread Pasta Prices Rise

The price of wheat has been steadily rising and the only ones smiling are the farmers. The bakeries are struggling with rising costs which will eventually be passed on to the consumers. Over the past tow months, according to the CBC report, the price of flour has doubled. Weather problems, like the drought in Australia, are partially to blame. Another factor is the move by grain farmers away from wheat to growing canola or corn for the expanding biofuel market. "It's a very, very tight situation," said Canadian Wheat Board analyst Bruce Burnett. "World production has been under consumption in the last couple of years, so we have been drawing stocks down … and we've finally hit levels that have made the market very, very concerned about supplies and rightly so." It is likely that prices will remain high for at least another 18 months, as it could take up to three years of strong harvests to rebuild the worldwide stocks. KUB Bakery, in Winnipeg, said its prices need to go up to help cover the rising costs. "We're not going to gouge anyone; we're going to take what we need to stay afloat. Bread is going to have to go up, any product with wheat in it will go up, that's a certainty," Ross Einfeld, the bakery's manager, told CBC News. "I'm sure all bakeries across the board have the same problem. Their flour price has doubled, their ingredient price has doubled. So you're going to see prices increase." "It's such a labour intensive thing and really, when you see the cost going up …to pass it on to the customer, it's a very big increase for them to swallow," Sam Cuzzolino, Calabria Bakery, Scarborough ON., said, adding that his customers would be upset if he raised his prices from $1.75 to $2.50 a loaf to help cover the costs. . "From what we were paying a year ago to what we're paying now, it's actually phenomenal," said Tom Bennett, bakery manager, Coleman's grocery store in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland. "You wouldn't really think all these different things going on would affect the price of flour here in Mount Pearl, but it has." Farmers, on the other hand are cheered by the high prices. Doug Chorney, a wheat farmer near Winnipeg and a member of farmers' group Keystone Agricultural Producers said "These are the best prices for wheat we've seen in many farming careers, perhaps ever. Everyone is optimistic this is going to be a good year, providing we can produce the crop that hasn't grown yet.” Chorney will plant more wheat this year and feels that the profits possible may help keep some farmers in the industry. It "may encourage some young farmers to stay on the land and take up farming as a career," he said.