Amy Scherber spends as much time thinking about the country's wheat harvest as she does about her well-known Amy's Bread recipes. Because of factors like poor harvests and strong overseas demand, flour prices have risen 38% in less than two years.
“We're just having to suck it up rather than pass on these costs,” said Ms. Scherber, whose profitable business brings in $11 million in sales annually. Also, hiking retail prices can be difficult, because they're entrenched in so many places, from cash registers to signs in retail stores.
In the aftermath of the recent announcement by Twinkie maker Hostess Brands that it will head back into bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than a decade, retail and wholesale bakers around the city say that they, too, are struggling to absorb extra costs for ingredients, among them flour, sugar, raisins, nuts and some chocolates.
Many price increases have been steep. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economics Research Service said the cost of basic bleached white bakery flour has skyrocketed to $19.52 per 100 pounds in January 2012, from $14.13 in May 2010.
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