Just be glad you aren't reading A Good Tea Blog. Consider these headlines:
War?!?! That's bad, right? And it's not a rhetorical war - the crisis in Kenya has caused a 10% in exports from that nation, the biggest supplier of black tea in the world. And it's not just tea:The rise in tea prices has come as the prices of other traditional brews such as cocoa and coffee have risen. Cocoa prices in New York last week hit a 24-year high of $2,585 a tonne, up 45 per cent during the past year. Arabica coffee, the highest quality bean, surged last week to a 10-year high of $1.6015 per pound, up 36 per cent in the past year.Jiminy Cricket! The odd fifty cents on a six pack is starting to look really good - especially given that the hop shortage is an interim measure until plantings start to catch up. That $4.69 I pay for a bomber of Ommegang Hennepin is starting to look really good.
Comments
eac - February 20, 2008 11:03 PM
<blockquote>given that the hop shortage is an interim measure until plantings start to catch up</blockquote>
er, it's pretty optimistic of you to think prices will come down when hop production increases, n'est pas? Still, your overall point is a good one (for those of us who subsist on only beer & water.)
Alan - February 20, 2008 11:12 PM
Well, everyone else is saying how this is just supply and demand, right? No one would take advantage of the situation or, err, continuing to maintain a price hike after the conditions causing the hike no longer continue...like we are seeing with the gasoline supply.
Paul - February 21, 2008 6:07 AM
Lindemans Tea Beer just doesn't stand a chance, price rises from all angles!
chapka - February 21, 2008 10:38 AM
It's not just drinks, either. Flour is twice as expensive as it was a year ago, and bakeries are having to raise their prices. Even if hops return to their 2006 prices, barley probably won't. The same is true of pretty much any food product you can name.
Ethanol subsidies are probably to blame for some of the problem, but population growth and increased prosperity in the former third world mean that other people can afford to buy decent food as well. Expect to pay a lot more at the grocery store for just about everything for the foreseeable future.
Alan - February 21, 2008 10:56 AM
That should be great news for Canada, given that we are a land of idle grain producing capacity at least in the eastern areas. Back to the land, I say!