I Can't Believe X Costs More Than Y

[Peter the eater]

I do all the grocery shopping for my household and I'm always calculating the dollars per lb, kg, L, gallon, etc. Today, for the first time in my life, my gasoline ($1.30/L) costs more than my milk (1.25/L). What's it like in OPEC nations where the cows are few and far between?

This got me thinking about the injustices on my grocery bill. Why does a kg of raw potatoes cost more than a kg of processed McCain's french fries?

[gfweb]

My guess to the potato question would be that there's competition between frozen fry makers, but not between veg middlemen who are probably few in number and perhaps a cartel, if not an actual monopoly.

[abadoozy]

Don't ever try this with the price of printer ink. It's one of the most expensive item known to mankind from what I can tell.

[Corinna]

I often find myself being very concious of the price of meat by the pound, but not as much with fresh produce. For example, if I buy a club pack of chicken breasts at Wegman's I can get them for $1.99/lb, while celeriac, eggplant and asparagus were all $3.00/lb!

[Dakki]

Asparagus is more expensive than sirloin where I live.

[therippa]

How is a gallon of the generic kool-aid stuff they sell at most supermarkets cheaper than a gallon of plain water?

[emannths]

Brisket and corned beef. Fresh brisket is usually about $3.50/lb at any non-Costco-type store. When it goes one sale around St Patrick's day, pre-brined corned beef goes for as little as $1.60/lb for the point end, $2.30/lb for the flat. Both use Choice-grade beef, so that's not the cause of the difference.

I also find it amazing that beef chuck is less than $3/lb, but things like tongue, tripe, oxtails, and (veal) liver are all $3.50-5.50/lb. Heck, I can usually find skirt steak for less than tongue, tripe and oxtail! As much as I love offal-type stuff, I find it really hard to pay a premium to eat it...

[Moopheus]

What's it like in OPEC nations where the cows are few and far between?

In OPEC countries, the price of gasoline is typically highly government subsidized.

Why does a kg of raw potatoes cost more than a kg of processed McCain's french fries?

Because they are worth more? How much are you paying for potatoes? Around here, raw potatoes are definitely cheaper per pound than frozen fries.

[mkayahara]

Why does a kg of raw potatoes cost more than a kg of processed McCain's french fries?

Because they are worth more? How much are you paying for potatoes? Around here, raw potatoes are definitely cheaper per pound than frozen fries.

Not to mention that, when you buy fresh potatoes, you're not only paying for the potatoes you buy: you're also paying for all the potatoes that had to be thrown out before they could sell. (Presumably because all the other people were buying frozen fries...)

[ChrisTaylor]

Or that, probably, the 'higher grade' potatoes wind up being sold as unmolested potatoes. The ones that people wouldn't buy--too big, too small, too battered, too bruised, shaped like something that grew up next to the Chernobyl power plant--wind up in processed products. And that processed fries aren't pure potato. They cut the potato content with other ingredients.

[heidih]

With fresh potatoes and other vegetables you also have the shelf life issue versus centrally processed and frozen then lasting a long time with the fries

[thayes1c]

I know the price is different because of the labor involved, but I can buy a whole free-range chicken for the price of two boneless skinless breasts. Five minutes with a knife around and I've got a whole chicken in parts, not to mention the carcass and the gibs. The cat, for one, is always grateful for a liver.

[rarerollingobject]

Sometimes the price of fish amazes me, in and of itself and compared to other things. Yesterday, I bought two medium-sized mackerel for AUD$4 total. Pretty astounding already, but compared to say, a bunch of parsley at $3, or a newspaper, or a bus trip to go one stop, it astounds me on a cellular level that two living, breathing, pulsating lives are 'worth' far less. I see these prices sometimes, and think "Other things' lives shouldn't be this cheap..". I'm not a vegetarian, and have no issue eating flesh, but that the cost should be so little to me (but so great to the mackerel!) is somehow disquieting.

Disclaimer: I understand the market pricing argument and economic inputs and value add to a newspaper are empirically higher. I understand the scale of the mackerel catch contribute to its consumer price. I understand that natural resources are also expended in the production of those things. I understand that parsley is also living. I understand that 'worth' is totally subjective. But to ME, this is life out of whack.

On a lighter note, I can't believe that people will pay for skinned and pin-boned salmon portions at $10 per kilo ($5 per lb) more than salmon you might have to run your knife over yourself...

Edited April 4, 2011 by rarerollingobject (log)

[annachan]

In the US, I was always amazed that purchasing a raw duck is 2-3 times more than purchasing a roast duck. One reason why I didn't bother cooking duck much in the US....

[IndyRob]

Potatoes are interesting because, on sale, I can buy a sack of potatoes for $2.99. But a single baker will cost me a dollar if purchased alone.

But in the case of frozen fries, I suspect that quite a bit of savings can be had by putting your potato processing plant close to the source. Farm->Truck->Plant. God only knows the route my single baker took get to my corner grocery.

[Moopheus]

How is a gallon of the generic kool-aid stuff they sell at most supermarkets cheaper than a gallon of plain water?

The plain water doesn't have crap in it. Or at least, that's what they want you to believe. Remember a while back when there was a bit of a stink made of the fact that the premium bottled water sold by Coca-Cola was discovered to be unprocessed Atlanta municipal water. There was nothing wrong with it, but folks were miffed to discover they were paying premium prices for basically ordinary tap water.

[annachan]

Now in Australia, I miss how cheap potatoes are in the US. I do end up buying frozen fries more often now because of the cost of fresh potatoes.

Bananas is another off the chart thing. I've never paid more than $1/lb. Here, $3/lb is considered a good price.... I've seen as high as about $7/lb. That's more than some meat!

[karlos]

In my parts tap water is delicious and yet bottled water is still a big seller. Boggles my mind.

[Boilerfood]

Sometimes the price of fish amazes me, in and of itself and compared to other things. Yesterday, I bought two medium-sized mackerel for AUD$4 total. Pretty astounding already, but compared to say, a bunch of parsley at $3, or a newspaper, or a bus trip to go one stop, it astounds me on a cellular level that two living, breathing, pulsating lives are 'worth' far less. I see these prices sometimes, and think "Other things' lives shouldn't be this cheap..". I'm not a vegetarian, and have no issue eating flesh, but that the cost should be so little to me (but so great to the mackerel!) is somehow disquieting.

Being from the midwest, I wish I had access to fish this cheap.

[Tom Gengo]

Here in Charleston, SC there is a butcher called NY Butcher Shop. Typically I was purchasing my sausage casing (before discovering Butcher & Packer) from Whole foods. They were out of casings, so went to the NY Butcher Shop... son of a bugger, they charged me $19.95/lb, which was more than their tenderloin. When I approached the owner's son/mngr, he told me that is what they paid. Cow dung. At every opportunity I share my displeasure w/ their shop to any prospective customer.

[Mjx]

I really, desperately want to hear the explanation of the reason that rabbit costs so damn much here: It is nearly impossible to find, and when you do find it, it is priced as though it were some impossibly rare creature that was hunted at great risk to life and limb, and then transported from Australia via Lamborghini. The only thing that cost more was the Chateaubriand.

[haresfur]

Or that, probably, the 'higher grade' potatoes wind up being sold as unmolested potatoes. The ones that people wouldn't buy--too big, too small, too battered, too bruised, shaped like something that grew up next to the Chernobyl power plant--wind up in processed products. And that processed fries aren't pure potato. They cut the potato content with other ingredients.

I don't think this is quite right. The french fry plants (in the US at least) demand big round smooth potatoes so they can get long fries efficiently. To do this they like sandy soil and lots of water. Makes for inefficient water use and groundwater contamination.

[mkayahara]

I really, desperately want to hear the explanation of the reason that rabbit costs so damn much here: It is nearly impossible to find, and when you do find it, it is priced as though it were some impossibly rare creature that was hunted at great risk to life and limb, and then transported from Australia via Lamborghini. The only thing that cost more was the Chateaubriand.

Yeah, I hear rabbits are quite hard to breed...

[Moopheus]

I really, desperately want to hear the explanation of the reason that rabbit costs so damn much here: It is nearly impossible to find, and when you do find it, it is priced as though it were some impossibly rare creature that was hunted at great risk to life and limb, and then transported from Australia via Lamborghini. The only thing that cost more was the Chateaubriand.

Yeah, I hear rabbits are quite hard to breed...

Yes, easy to breed, but apparently costly to feed. Apparently rabbit farming was only recently legalized in Australia (because it is considered a pest).

[Mjx]

. . . . easy to breed, but apparently costly to feed. . . .

Here, rabbits are mostly grazed. I had friends who used to raise rabbits for meat (they divorced, and the one with whom I'm still in touch didn't feel like bothering any longer) because it was easily the cheapest source of meat going. I miss their bunnies.