Call 4 Action: Other Costs Down, But Food Prices Still HighPOSTED: 3:50 pm EST December 4,
2008 PITTSBURGH -- When grocery prices shot up earlier this year consumers may have heard that high gas and shipping costs were to blame.Now gas is down, but grocery costs, overall, are still going up.  Call 4 Action: Other Costs Down, But Food Prices Still HighIt's not just gas that's falling. America saw the largest drop in consumer prices in recorded history in October. Everything is going down in price -- except food. A fact that has consumers stumped.No matter where we shop, every beep at the register seems to be costing us more these days. Even though the ingredients used to make many of those items, and the gas used to ship them, cost far less then they did just a few months ago."Food has not leveled out yet, especially on imported products. You're paying. You're going to pay," said Julia Merante, the owner of Groceria Merante.Consumers will pay as much as 6 percent more on food costs, overall, by the end of the year."Prices seem to go up quicker than they come down. They're sticking when they come down," said University of Pittsburgh professor Jeff Inman.Inman said many of the major food producers made bad bets earlier this year, locking in prices on ingredients before the economy collapsed. Another problem is that with fewer Americans dining out, the demand for supermarket food has risen."Price is not all about just covering your cost, it's also about charging a price that consumers, in this case, are willing and able to pay," Inman said.Not everything is more expensive. In fact produce, specifically fruits and vegetables, are cheaper because most of the cost associated with these things has to do with shipping. As shipping costs go down, so does the price.Also down are milk and other dairy prices but don't expect meat prices to drop anytime soon.Feed was so expensive earlier this year, chicken farmers and cattle ranchers raised fewer animals, thereby reducing supply."It's got to break sooner or later," Merante said.Inman said food prices eventually will come down, but it could be well into next year. In the meantime, he predicts we'll probably see more generous coupon offers. Related Links:
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