Wheat prices...taking the cake
Get ready for some "sticker shocks" when you go to the store...
From pastries to pasta, the price of just about everything made with wheat is going up.
Blame the trend on a biblical bout of bad weather -- drought, freezes and floods -- that has decimated wheat crops and created shortages around the world.
Wheat futures hit a record of $8.87 a bushel in Chicago trading last week before retreating to $8.75 on Monday. Still, that's a huge jump from $3.95 a year ago.
"This is a historic level. There is no way we can cut costs fast enough or deep enough to handle this type of huge increase in wheat," said Bill Nictakis, president of the fresh bakery division at Sara Lee Corp.
...Shoppers in Rome are threatening pasta boycotts to protest rising prices. In Lanzhou in western China workers are complaining about paying more at the industrial city's 3,000 noodle shops. - Latte Times
