The headlong charge towards a global replacement of oil, gas and all those other nasty fossil based vehicle fuels with New! Improved! Green! Environment Friendly! Biofuels seems to leave a large amount of roadkill dazed, dazzled or dead in the ditch as it thunders by. Already large swathes of the rainforest in Borneo are being laid to waste, and with them some of the last habitats of man’s closest relative in the primate world, the Orang-utan, as farmers in Indonesia and Malaysia rip up the ancient forests to make way for today’s cash crop, palm oil, the vital component in the production of biofuels. Now the latest victims are the humble loaf of bread, the ice cream cornet and your daily pint of milk. Only last week, Premier Foods, the giant conglomerate behind such much loved brands as Hovis and Mother’s Pride blamed the “unprecedented” surge in global wheat costs for a decision to increase bread and flour prices once more, having already upped the price earlier this year. Immediately supermarket leader Tesco immediately whacked 8 pence on the price of an 800 gram loaf of Hovis pushing its price past the £1 barrier, last summer the same loaf cost just 88 pence in comparison.
The price increase was lamented by Robert Schofield, chief executive of the company, saying that the group had little choice but to force through the increase as wheat prices had doubled in the past year to £200 a tonne after a series of poor harvests, Britain’s wet summer along with the increased competition for the reduced stocks of the staple. The outlook for the price of the humble loaf is not good though for on the very day, Mr Schofield made his announcement, the price of wheat rose to record levels on the commodity markets. Elsewhere the rising costs of such staples has been blamed for an increase in the cost of Ice Cream as the price of corn almost steepled whilst dairy farmers in the USA have blamed the increased costs of feeding their herds for a rise in the price of a pinta across the Pond.
Mr Schofield said that a further price rise on bread and flour may be necessary before the end of the year. He added that other food products were also facing inflationary pressure in part because of the desire by governments to clear more farmland for biofuel products.
“Everyone is focusing on wheat and bread prices at the moment, but there is a general food inflation that hasn’t been with us since the 1990s,” Mr Schofield said. “As long as governments are going to grow fuel, there will be, in effect, an environment tax on food.”
The price increase was lamented by Robert Schofield, chief executive of the company, saying that the group had little choice but to force through the increase as wheat prices had doubled in the past year to £200 a tonne after a series of poor harvests, Britain’s wet summer along with the increased competition for the reduced stocks of the staple. The outlook for the price of the humble loaf is not good though for on the very day, Mr Schofield made his announcement, the price of wheat rose to record levels on the commodity markets. Elsewhere the rising costs of such staples has been blamed for an increase in the cost of Ice Cream as the price of corn almost steepled whilst dairy farmers in the USA have blamed the increased costs of feeding their herds for a rise in the price of a pinta across the Pond.
Mr Schofield said that a further price rise on bread and flour may be necessary before the end of the year. He added that other food products were also facing inflationary pressure in part because of the desire by governments to clear more farmland for biofuel products.
“Everyone is focusing on wheat and bread prices at the moment, but there is a general food inflation that hasn’t been with us since the 1990s,” Mr Schofield said. “As long as governments are going to grow fuel, there will be, in effect, an environment tax on food.”
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