April 11, 2011 - 7:54am
Price of Flour
I'm not too picky about flour. In general, I pick the lowest cost unbleached bread flour I can find (for what it's worth, this is almost always White Lilly High Protein Bread Flour, which runs about $0.50/pound). If I can find King Arthur Flour for a reasonable price, I will buy it. In my area, most stores have it for around $0.80/pound -- not too shabby.
One store in particular, though, always has outrageous prices for King Arthur Flour. I shot the picture below on Saturday -- can you believe it? $6.09 for five pounds? What are they thinking? How on earth can they move any product at this price?
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with someone in the KA flour sales force.
The fact is that a lot of that price is the retailer mark up. The retailer can and does move product at that price - if they don't they reduce the mark up.
KA is and positions itself as a "premium product." This means that people become loyal to the brand and are somewhat less sensitive to price than for other products.
Depending on the other offerings in the store, the clientelle might pay the premium price charged for convenience or just because the dollar or two doesn't matter based on their usage of flour (If they are shopping at the store for all of their other needs and use small amounts of this flour, it isn't worth the time or effort to go elsewhere.)
All basic supply and demand. Nothing bizarre, nothing grotesque. Just capitalism at its finest. You don't like the price, so you vote with your dollars. Others do not mind, so the store makes a profit. Good system.
I'm all for the store making a profit. I'm not complaining about that. If they could sell it for $10/pound, more power to them.
I just find it hard to believe that they actually can move product when the exact same item is available at over half the cost at multiple stores within a 2-mile radius. This isn't exactly a gourmet grocery, either. They cater to a wide variety of customers, from college students to working families to wealthy, discerning foodies.
Of course, as a baker, I guess I'm a little more aware of the price of flour than the other shoppers. It's possible that I constantly over-pay for another item that I consider to be "premium" simply because I haven't shopped it as hard as flour.
ericb, you are lucky to have such a selection of stores to choose from. Here on the south end of Whidbey Island there is only one store carrying the King Arthur all purpose, bread and whole wheat flours and they are usually $5.49 for the 5# bag. Very occasionally $4.49. That's why I was so thrilled to see the Pendleton Mills flour at Cash and Carry - but that was across the water, A.
Right now I happen toi be consulting for a company that distributes through retail channels (big change from my last two consulting gigs!) and I've become increasingly aware of my own behavior.
There is a small independent grocer in my neighborhood. The great virtue of this place is they are a short, pleasant walk from my house, and that they employ my pal - "Jimmy the Butcher" who stocks the nasty bits that I need to render lard, make scrapple, etc. - and who will also custom cut meat to order. I'm very faithful to that butcher and I want to make sure he is there as long as possible.
The store also sells KA flour (amongst other things) at a very high markup.
Now despite what folks might think of my spending habits given my grain grinding setup, I'm not made of money and I like to be mindful about how I spend it. But once in a while, I'll throw them some cash and buy flour at that market. It is the most expensive flour I'll buy, so I don't buy much of it, but I will buy it.
Why?
Because my time is also valuable. Some days, if I haven't planned carefully, I'll need a small amount of flour and I had to run by anyway to get product that only Jimmy can provide. I could go elsewhere to buy the flour, but some days I'll trade $2 for a half hour of quiet time at home.
But you know what else? I want that place to stay in business. I want to make sure they can pay Jimmy a living wage - because if that place shuts down and Jimmy moves on to a place far from my home, the days of me taking 15 minutes to get custom cut meat are gone and I must either drive a distance, eat that stuff in my local supermarket (which would diminish my life greatly) or become a vegetarian (not gonna happen). My life will be diminished if that place closes and it seems only right that from time to time I "over pay" to make sure the things I value in life continue to thrive.
It's how I insist on being treated in my professional life and I need to extend that to others.
When I plan ahead (and I only go to my local mega mart a maximum of once a month) - yes, I go to my local mega mart and buy large quantities of flour for a lower price.
I think that's the change I want to see in the world - and it behooves me to live it.
Think about it.
I just bought nine 5lb bags at a Meijer in Michigan for $3.29 a bag.
Target was selling KA for $3.19 in North Jersey.
Gold Medal was $2 for 5 pounds at A&P.
The local WalMart has KA AP for $3.19/5# and WheatMontana WW and AP at about $3.49/5#. The Dillons Supermarket, a Kroger affiliate and about 1/2 mile away, has the same KAF AP for $4.89. They also carry KA WW, WWW, and BF at about the same price as the AP that I won't find at WalMart. OTOH, they also carry the Kroger AP at $1.79/5# and their WW for just over $2/5#. Dillons also carries Pillsbury, Gold Medal, Hudson Cream, Hodgson, and a couple other brands I can't recall at the moment. Since I don't bake a high volume of breads, I can indulge in buying for the price or for the brand.
The one, and only, little store for 200 miles that sold a fair selection of KA flours at outrageous prices (over $2 / lb for some) stopped carrying them altogether a couple of weeks ago. I must have been the only one who ever bought them. Could be worse... could be raining.
EircB, Think Shipment and logistics. A Grocer may not frequently stock flours as there isn't enough turnover for such a product. The advantage of Being a Multi-branched Retailer, who buys merchandize in bulk, is that it can afford to reduce its markup.