Tips and Tricks to Cope With Rising Food Prices
Well, Here we are in the New Year!
I don’t know about you, but no matter how much I buy into the holiday spirit of greeting a fresh new year, on January 2nd my mood is always more Monday morning reality check on the work week, than Friday afternoon anticipation of the weekend. This year I felt justified because January 2nd WAS a Monday.
Humor aside, from all indications the forecast on 2012 is for a serious year economically, and the food industry is no exception. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Department estimates the price increases in 2011 to have been 3% – 4% and anticipates an equal increase this year. I agree with many people in the industry that those figures are low, but one thing is certain, food prices will rise as much, or more, than last year. They have, in fact, gone up, substantially, in three of the past five to six years, but this is the first time it’s been two consecutive years. Rather than a gradual increase, the pattern has been for prices to hike at intervals, usually following holiday sales, when they should have returned to what was normal, and my supermarket fliers for the first week of the year tell me that hasn’t changed. Even expecting the increases, I gasped, especially at the produce costs. What interests me is that in this, and other departments, especially meat, prices on items that were considered weekday fare have taken the steepest rise, while those on “gourmet” items have been more stable. The question is”How to cope?”
The first answer is to keep your eye on the ball. Note the cost of your regular purchases and, generally, of products you plan to buy in the next few months, perhaps for occasions. Check some similar brands or products as well, not only for comparison in the future, but also as alternatives should your first choice become a budget buster. For example, iceberg lettuce was always my work horse, for sandwiches, lining plates, regular salads, costing a dollar or less, until about two years ago, when it became a diva. Now, it’s never under $1.25 and as high as $1.99! Romaine, once more expensive, has remained about the same and is now the more economical choice. So be open to change.
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The third answer is: Know when to quit. I like an ice cream flavor made by one major brand. In July it was $3.00 per ½ gal. or 2/5 special, Then it went to $3.49 each or 2/6, By November, it was $3.79 per or B.O.G.O. $6.99. Focused on all the holiday goodies, I didn’t check the Ice Cream Section until after Christmas, and had to blink twice–$4.59 a ½ gal. and no 2for sale! Enough! No way am I going to pay nearly $5.00 for ½ gal. of commercial ice cream. I’ll find a new flavor in another brand.
The fourth answer is advice I have given repeatedly in this blog and in my book Dinners With Joy, dinnerswithjoy.com. Get butchers’ diagrams of beef, pork and lamb, showing the different cuts and listing their uses. These offer you economic alternatives. A chart of substitutions is also a help. Many regular pantry items can be combined to replace expensive ingredients, different flours,liquors, sauces, in recipes that call for small amounts. This can be a huge money saver. All this information is available for free download on both my web sites.
My final bit of advice on coping with the rising food costs is to read my plan for trimming your food expenses outlined in this blog, and implement it. Even if your budget was adequate in 2011, it will either have to be increased or stretched to fit 2012. This plan has worked for me, professionally and personally for over ten years. I’m sure it will work for you.
Next I’m going to tackle pre planning as a way of dealing with food expenses or as I call it “Amortizing Occasions’.
