Food & Beverage

Food prices soar to record setting level worldwide

Photo by istock.com

April 8, 2022

Russia's war on Ukraine is driving food prices to hit the highest ever levels, according to the U.N. and data from the Food and Agriculture Organization's monthly food price index.

Disrupted exports drove the global wheat price increase to 19.7% in March, and meats, cereals and cooking oils also hit all-time records for the month, according to a report at The Guardian.

"The higher price quotations are particularly concerning for countries already struggling with other crises, including conflict, natural disasters, economic conditions or, as it is often the case, some combinations of those," an FAO spokesperson told the news outlet.

The food price spikes are the "most noticeable" in countries "where the share in disposable income spent on food is the highest," according to the spokesperson.

In South Carolina, a Myrtle Beach bakery is just one business feeling the impact of rising food prices, especially when it comes to the cost of wheat.

Benjamin's Bakery and Café, in Surfside Beach, has had to raise prices after flour costs went up 20%, according to a WBTW News 13 report.

"The war was another wrench in an already broken system. Two years of supply line interruptions and price increases and labor shortages has made doing business more of a gamble," owner Lee Zulanch told WBTW.

Zulanch is having a tough time even ordering wheat as suppliers are running short.

"We tried to order in a month supply of flour which conservatively is about eight pallets. Of the eight pallets I got shipped two. I tried to order the other six pallets from another vendor that we use, and I got two from them. And that's at any price, they don't have the flour to ship. And this supply and demand issue has pushed the price to astronomical levels. But you can't be a bakery, especially a bread bakery, without flour," he told the news outlet.