On November 12th, NIA's President Gerard Adams warned Americans on FOX Business to beware of massive food inflation in early 2011. We are less than three weeks into the new year and massive food inflation is already here. SuperValu, the third-largest U.S. food retailer with 2,349 stores that operate under such names as Acme, Albertsons, and Save-A-Lot, just reported that all of their major vendors have announced their intentions to pass along rising costs throughout the calendar year and the company will be raising prices on all food items by 3% to 14%. NIA's experience tells us that SuperValu is planning to increase prices on most goods by approximately 14%. Trust us, if SuperValu was expecting to increase prices by an average of only around 5%, they would have given an average instead of such a wide range. (By the way, SuperValu's stock crashed 16% on the news and one of NIA's top 10 predictions for 2011 was that U.S. retail stocks will decline after reporting lower profit margins.)See previous articles on the website and please prioritize your efforts; buy food storage and household staples. Be frugal-smart, but not so stingy as to not be filling all the needs as well. (I wish I'd bought canned butter just two years ago when it was half the price as it is now. And my kids can get by with basic wardrobe basics if need be, but they need to be big enough.)
The SuperValu situation confirms that double-digit U.S. food price inflation is just about guaranteed to occur in 2011. We also expect to see double-digit price inflation this year in clothing, oil, gasoline, natural gas, and all of the most important things Americans need to live and survive. If the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) somehow manages to report a CPI increase in 2011 of anything less than 5%, and the mainstream media continues to report the BLS's CPI numbers as the truth, any Americans who continue to listen to the mainstream media deserve to lose all of their purchasing power during hyperinflation.
"The report highlights how despite cotton rising by 54%, corn rising by 29%, soybeans rising by 22%, orange juice rising by 17%, and sugar rising by 51% during the months of September and October alone, these huge commodity price increases have yet to make their way into America's grocery stores because corporations have been reluctant to pass these price increases along to the consumer. In today's dismal economy, no retailer wants to be the first to dramatically raise food prices. "I've had to update my "low price" on my food storage shopping lists already this year -
"The agricultural commodity price increases of the past two months will begin to make their way into all supermarkets nationwide during the next few months. Americans who have been struggling just to make their mortgage payments, will now be forced to stop paying their mortgage in order to buy food. Instead of hoping to get the latest Apple gadget for Christmas this holiday season, American children better be grateful if their parents are able just to put food on the table."
Wheat futures are currently trading for $7.14 per bushel
and the average grocery store sells a 24 oz loaf of the cheapest
store brand of wheat bread for $1.69.
Based on the way NIA calculates real price
inflation, by eliminating geometric weighting and hedonics,
wheat’s real inflation adjusted high in February of 1974 was
$97.37 per bushel. NIA expects wheat to reach new inflation
adjusted highs this decade and if so, the average price for
a 24 oz loaf of the cheapest store brand of wheat bread in
your grocery store will likely rise to around $23.05.
