Post by: Manedwolf on April 23, 2008, 11:12:05 AM
Quote
Worried about rising prices worldwide, customers have been stocking up, prompting Sam's Club to limit sales to no more than four bags. Costco is considering a similar move.
By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:56 AM PDT, April 23, 2008
The global run on rice has hit U.S. shores but appears limited to big-box warehouse stores. Customers concerned about rising rice prices have been cleaning out the shelves at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club and Costco Wholesale Corp. stores.
Sam's Club said today that customers will no longer be allowed to purchase more than four bags of jasmine, basmati and long-grain white rice per visit. The policy involves only bags of 20 pounds or larger and does not affect consumer packages.
The retailer said the policy was "effective immediately" across all of its U.S. stores.. It blamed the new limits on "supply and demand trends" and said it is working with suppliers "to ensure we are in stock, and we are asking for our members' cooperation and patience."
Earlier this week, Costco said it has seen sales spikes for flour, rice and some cooking oils and was considering limiting sales in stores where it had limited supplies. The chain said it is considering limiting the number of pallets a customer could purchase rather than stopping sales altogether.
By Jerry Hirsch, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:56 AM PDT, April 23, 2008
The global run on rice has hit U.S. shores but appears limited to big-box warehouse stores. Customers concerned about rising rice prices have been cleaning out the shelves at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club and Costco Wholesale Corp. stores.
Sam's Club said today that customers will no longer be allowed to purchase more than four bags of jasmine, basmati and long-grain white rice per visit. The policy involves only bags of 20 pounds or larger and does not affect consumer packages.
The retailer said the policy was "effective immediately" across all of its U.S. stores.. It blamed the new limits on "supply and demand trends" and said it is working with suppliers "to ensure we are in stock, and we are asking for our members' cooperation and patience."
Earlier this week, Costco said it has seen sales spikes for flour, rice and some cooking oils and was considering limiting sales in stores where it had limited supplies. The chain said it is considering limiting the number of pallets a customer could purchase rather than stopping sales altogether.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-rice24apr24,1,3902221.story
Flour's up, I know that. Was $4.59 for 5lbs of King Arthur Bread Flour in the market the other day!
Post by: Firethorn on April 23, 2008, 12:03:29 PM
If you're going to stock up, why not do it the cheapest way possible - with big bags from the big discount stores?
/has a 20 pound bag at home. Should last me over a year.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 23, 2008, 12:10:19 PM
Post by: The Annoyed Man on April 23, 2008, 12:13:37 PM
Post by: MillCreek on April 23, 2008, 12:17:14 PM
Post by: charby on April 23, 2008, 12:32:32 PM
We're becoming more and more like the old soviet union. Pretty soon we'll be standing in line to buy a potato.
not at my house, I'll be digging mine out of the ground.
Post by: Bogie on April 23, 2008, 12:35:39 PM
Plus, with the influx of Mexican and Chinese folks, the food system is going to see a different blend of stuff being consumed. They also noted that flour and cooking oil were both up - Can you say "tortillas?"
Post by: Devonai on April 23, 2008, 07:30:03 PM
Post by: Manedwolf on April 24, 2008, 03:56:32 AM
We're becoming more and more like the old soviet union. Pretty soon we'll be standing in line to buy a potato.
not at my house, I'll be digging mine out of the ground.
Do you have a potato digger?
Post by: mfree on April 24, 2008, 04:16:54 AM
Nifty way to get around saying the limit is four.... EIGHTY POUNDS OF RICE PER CUSTOMER oh my GOD we're rationing and we're going to starve to death!
No kidding, I've never seen anything so spun in my life.
Post by: Firethorn on April 24, 2008, 04:26:46 AM
Nifty way to get around saying the limit is four.... EIGHTY POUNDS OF RICE PER CUSTOMER oh my GOD we're rationing and we're going to starve to death!
I love that it's actually '20 pounds or larger'. Find, say, 50 pound bags and you're up to 200 pounds per visit.
Probably the discount stores have a contract, they can't get more bags without a new contract at a higher price and want to keep availability up for all the customers while keeping prices low.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 24, 2008, 04:35:37 AM
"involves 20 pound bags"
Nifty way to get around saying the limit is four.... EIGHTY POUNDS OF RICE PER CUSTOMER oh my GOD we're rationing and we're going to starve to death!
No kidding, I've never seen anything so spun in my life.
Nifty way to get around saying the limit is four.... EIGHTY POUNDS OF RICE PER CUSTOMER oh my GOD we're rationing and we're going to starve to death!
No kidding, I've never seen anything so spun in my life.
Do you have any idea how much rice a Chinese restaurant might go through in a week?
Where do you think they get the rice, if they're not part of a chain with a distributor?
Ah-ha!
Post by: charby on April 24, 2008, 05:11:02 AM
We're becoming more and more like the old soviet union. Pretty soon we'll be standing in line to buy a potato.
not at my house, I'll be digging mine out of the ground.
Do you have a potato digger?
If there is a true food shortage I might have to get me a potato digger to keep the theives out of my garden.
Post by: Scout26 on April 24, 2008, 05:22:25 AM
Post by: Manedwolf on April 24, 2008, 05:25:19 AM
Okay, explain to me how converting Corn into Ethanol causes a "rice shortage" ??
It hasn't. The droughts in Australia have caused a rice shortage.
A wheat shortage has been caused, though, by farmers changing their yearly crop from wheat to more-lucrative feed corn for ethanol production. Can't blame the farmers, but the whole idea was flawed from the beginning. If we want to make ethanol, we should be making it from agricultural waste, not literally growing food to burn.
Post by: coppertales on April 24, 2008, 07:38:18 AM
Post by: MillCreek on April 24, 2008, 07:43:38 AM
Post by: mbt2001 on April 24, 2008, 08:27:56 AM
I am sure that all of you have seen the increase in the price of Ammo because of the increased cost of copper, lead and the declining dollar. Those same factors combined with the credit crunch (home implosion whatever you want to call it), bio fuels, increased global demand, high fuel prices and product shortfalls (drought, storms, crop failures) have put us into a position of having short falls in the food supply.
The below is reports in the news. These are only a few. Odd that it is being reported a bit more by UK outlets than ours...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/23/usa2
http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?q=5065.3338.0.0
http://www.dailyreckoning.co.uk/econ...end-00104.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...847.html?r=RSS
http://www.connpost.com/ci_9033782?source=rss
It doesn't just stop at grains... Cows eat grain, hogs eat grain...
Be prepared for a tough summer folks.
Post by: Manedwolf on April 24, 2008, 08:28:20 AM
5lbs of bread flour is now $4.99.
Post by: PTK on April 24, 2008, 08:32:47 AM
Quote
5lbs of bread flour is now $4.99
WOW, I just picked up two bags for $0.83/ea... I also picked up whole wheat flour for $1.13/5lbs.
Bought 10lbs of pinto beans for $6, on the low end of the regular $0.60-$0.80/lb, cooking oil for $2.00/qt, which is also average. I buy my rice in 11kg bags for $4.50-$6.00 depending on type.
Why are newspapers hyping this BS?
Post by: mbt2001 on April 24, 2008, 08:33:56 AM
Quote
"involves 20 pound bags"
Nifty way to get around saying the limit is four.... EIGHTY POUNDS OF RICE PER CUSTOMER oh my GOD we're rationing and we're going to starve to death!
No kidding, I've never seen anything so spun in my life.
Nifty way to get around saying the limit is four.... EIGHTY POUNDS OF RICE PER CUSTOMER oh my GOD we're rationing and we're going to starve to death!
No kidding, I've never seen anything so spun in my life.
The problem is that it is April. If they are rationing 20lb bags of rice in April, what will they be doing August September? Thailand is considering halting their export of Rice. India already has, they only export the highest quality at the moment. They have halted export of edible oils....
Rice has gone from $250 - 300 per Metric Ton to close to $900.00.... Do you think that happened because everything is OK? Wheat, corn, rice and other grains are about to get harder to find, that means, beef, pork and Chicken are going to get a lot more expensive.
Post by: PTK on April 24, 2008, 08:34:04 AM
I just picked up two bags of bread flour (5lb) for $0.83/ea... I also picked up whole wheat flour for $1.13/5lbs.
Bought 10lbs of pinto beans for $6, on the low end of the regular $0.60-$0.80/lb, cooking oil for $2.00/qt, which is also average. I buy my rice in 11kg bags for $4.50-$6.00 depending on type, but today it was on sale for $4.00 even for 11kg of basmati rice.
Why are newspapers hyping this BS?
Post by: Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas on April 24, 2008, 08:37:20 AM
Bah, this is just hyping a fake demand for Rice before she declares herself McCain's '08 running mate.
LOL - good one.
Post by: mbt2001 on April 24, 2008, 08:37:23 AM
Without knowing more about your location I can't tell you much, but it will start in the Urban centers and on the coasts, which the news papers have covered and what they are focusing on.
As far as I know, this is the FIRST TIME ever that the U.S. has "rationed" anything (save WWII) even informaly. Also, it is expected to get worse. Mom and Pop shops will be less affected in the beginning than the larger retailers... Remember, this only just started happening.
Post by: PTK on April 24, 2008, 08:40:31 AM
Post by: Manedwolf on April 24, 2008, 08:40:52 AM
Quote
5lbs of bread flour is now $4.99
WOW, I just picked up two bags for $0.83/ea... I also picked up whole wheat flour for $1.13/5lbs.
Bought 10lbs of pinto beans for $6, on the low end of the regular $0.60-$0.80/lb, cooking oil for $2.00/qt, which is also average. I buy my rice in 11kg bags for $4.50-$6.00 depending on type.
Why are newspapers hyping this BS?
Probably because it's reality for some people, dependent on region?
The fact that flour costs that much here isn't hype, that's the price on the shelf in the market. Also, there's some empty slots for other varieties.
Post by: PTK on April 24, 2008, 08:42:04 AM
Post by: mbt2001 on April 24, 2008, 08:48:35 AM
As far as I know, this has been reported in New England (a long way from rice fields) and California. Oil prices do have a little effect here. Texas is a big rice producer, I go goose hunting in rice fields around El Campo, Texas.
Where you are is not so impacted.... yet. As this develops, I am sure China and others will buy more and more rice from wherever they can get it.
We will see how it plays out. Now you know though, so stock pile food an ammo. That is what I am doing.
Post by: PTK on April 24, 2008, 08:51:08 AM
Quote
so stock pile food and ammo
I have been for years.
Now is a bit too late to "stock pile" either if this news is true, for the simple reason of expense. Ammunition is already too dang expensive to stock up on.
Post by: Bogie on April 24, 2008, 09:00:23 AM
Mexican restaurants tend to push "rice and beans" with each combo plate, so I'm guessing they'll use more.
But frankly, a few kilos will go a LONG way...
A few years back, a fellow named Dvorak turned me onto the Basmati stuff... IMHO, it's the best... But you gotta cook it right. Steaming is out.
Get strainer. Dump rice into strainer. Rinse. Dump rice into pan of boiling water. Give it about 5-7 minutes or so (depending on region of rice), and drain through strainer. You'll never cook rice another way again.
Post by: The Annoyed Man on April 24, 2008, 09:00:26 AM
Post by: Manedwolf on April 24, 2008, 09:02:55 AM
Post by: K Frame on April 24, 2008, 09:10:25 AM
Post by: Gewehr98 on April 24, 2008, 09:19:10 AM
How, exactly, does that work again?
Post by: The Annoyed Man on April 24, 2008, 09:21:18 AM
Just tried to put 20lbs of rice in my truck's gas tank.
How, exactly, does that work again?
How, exactly, does that work again?
Google 'sake recipe'
Post by: Headless Thompson Gunner on April 24, 2008, 09:25:45 AM
Quote
so stock pile food and ammo
I have been for years.
Now is a bit too late to "stock pile" either if this news is true, for the simple reason of expense. Ammunition is already too dang expensive to stock up on.
It's nothing new for discount stores to limit the amount one customer can purchase. I've seen quantity limits placed on everything from ammo to baby diapers to cat litter. They do it because they don't want people to buy up their entire inventory of one particular item. It mucks up their their supply chains and distribution systems, and it alienates customers who expect their favorite items to be in stock all the time.
Food shortages aren't going to happen here. Americans can easily afford to bid food prices up above what most of the world can comfortably pay. A few extra dollars a day in food costs are no big deal to the average American (we'll gripe about it, but we'll pay it easily). A few extra dollars a day is more than enough to price much of the world out of the market. It's darned unfortunate for the rest of the world, but it's true. America will be the last last place you'll see food shortages.
Post by: PTK on April 24, 2008, 09:29:31 AM
Quote
Food shortages aren't going to happen here. Americans can easily afford to bid food prices up above what most of the world can comfortably pay. A few extra dollars a day in food costs are no big deal to the average American (we'll gripe about it, but we'll pay it easily). A few extra dollars a day is more than enough to price much of the world out of the market. It's darned unfortunate for the rest of the world, but it's true. America will be the last last place you'll see food shortages.
How dare you bring logic into this!
Post by: Firethorn on April 24, 2008, 09:47:51 AM
As far as I know, this is the FIRST TIME ever that the U.S. has "rationed" anything (save WWII) even informaly. Also, it is expected to get worse. Mom and Pop shops will be less affected in the beginning than the larger retailers... Remember, this only just started happening.
The 'US' isn't rationing anything. It's just a few stores, and I've seen plenty of rationing of this sort. 'Limit 2', for example.
Post by: RevDisk on April 24, 2008, 12:17:07 PM
As far as I know, this is the FIRST TIME ever that the U.S. has "rationed" anything (save WWII) even informaly. Also, it is expected to get worse. Mom and Pop shops will be less affected in the beginning than the larger retailers... Remember, this only just started happening.
Uh. Odd, every time I see a major sale, I always see a "ration" notice of X items per customer.
Food prices here are more or less the same as always. Maybe a quarter above what I remember from last year this time. Then again, I can't throw a rock these days without hitting three roadside produce stands, four Amish guys on tractor, two tourists with cameras and a bulk food store. If the rest of the country is starving, I'll be gripping about being limited to couple dozen different types of veggies and meats, and mildly short on the fruits.
Post by: Scout26 on April 24, 2008, 01:34:10 PM
Quote
so stock pile food and ammo
I stock pile ammo so I can go shoot food.
Post by: thebaldguy on April 24, 2008, 03:54:11 PM
As far as rice goes, we eat quite a bit of it. We buy and use La Preferida extra long grain for Mexican cooking, Kokuho Rose sushi grade rice and Basmati rice for asian cooking, and Minnesota Wild Rice. We usually buy rice in 5 or 10 pound packages, and pickup some extra on sale.
Post by: PTK on April 24, 2008, 03:56:34 PM
Post by: thebaldguy on April 25, 2008, 02:40:19 PM
Minnesota Wild Rice... where are you buying it? How much per lb?
Here in Minnesota, wild rice is sold everywhere; from roadside stands and gift stands to supermarkets. I've seen it online as well. They actually have choices between "hand harvested" and commerically grown in paddies like other rices. Cheaper wild rice was around $5.00 a pound, while the natural hand harvested would be double. Long unbroken grain packages are more expensive as well.
Wild rice takes much longer to cook than regular rice, but after you cook it/partially cook it goes well in a variety of things from breads and muffins to suffings and hot dishes. James Page Brewing out of Minneapolis used to brew a wild rice lager that was pretty tasty.
I work with an asian gal loves rice, but doesn't like wild rice. She doesn't like the nutty flavor, and thinks it's too overwhelming.
Post by: PTK on April 25, 2008, 04:47:45 PM
Post by: thebaldguy on April 26, 2008, 09:46:57 AM
http://www.mnwildrice.com/
http://www.christmaspoint.com/
http://www.mooselakewildrice.com/
Post by: mbt2001 on April 28, 2008, 03:04:43 AM
Maybe it won't "happen here" as all of you say and maybe it is being "blown out of proportion".
But...
Mexico, Italy, Egypt, Haiti and others have all had severe food shortages and / or can't afford the food that is in market. I can tell you that prices of corn, wheat, soybean and others are going up up up. There have been several major droughts and crop shortages... A U.S. recession is underway and all the experts are saying that we haven't heard the last of the "bad news".
I have heard said that beef and pork prices are going to start going up. Ranchers are having to pay more and more to feed their livestock, so many of them are "liquidating" the herds. Beef and pork prices have taken stayed low as a result of this, so you can expect things to eventually catch up with us, in which case there will be a shortage of meats on the market.
Makes sense to take this seriously. I don't usually play the Chicken Little, but I really have a bad feeling about this one.
Post by: coppertales on April 28, 2008, 07:00:58 AM
I stopped by a local "kinda health food market" and they had all the short grain brown rice I could carry off for 60 cents a pound, no shortage there.
I think it is just a figment of the commodity brokers to drive up the prices....chris3
Post by: Ezekiel on April 28, 2008, 07:46:32 AM
High quality suds at my local brewery is going up...
Post by: K Frame on April 28, 2008, 07:50:51 AM
You're seeing what is currently in the supply chain.
It's what's coming behind that, or in reality isn't coming behind that, that is the issue.