How much is peanut butter worth to you?

When I heard this on the news yesterday, I knew bodybuilders, among whom pb is often the fat and food of choice, and typical Americans, who love pb and j, pb fluff, pb and banana, or pb and honey sandwiches, might soon be in a tizzy because the price of the most consumed nut butter will soon go up in price.

Some are blaming farmers, with cotton prices having gone up and selling at record prices, so fewer peanuts , as much as 15% less, were planted. Also, with the drought, many peanuts that were planted didn’t last. Further, some organic pb got contaminated.

But the fact is the price has been gradually going up, and high consumer demand, especially in this economy, where other protein sources are more expensive.

I thought it was bad when there was a pumpkin shortage last year (stay tuned for a pumpkin post. This shortage hit me personally harder!), but this has Amercans in even more of a huff, in part because of its current affordability, one of pb's selling points.

But now there is a peanut shortage, which is jacking prices up.

The story I heard focused on Jif, which now has to be close to double what it did last year for peanuts. Unfortunately that kind of increase will be felt by retailers and then by consumers as well.

It's only a matter of months before the prices really go up, so start hoarding now!

Fortunately, there are other nut butters, but usually not as cheap as pb. We'll have to see how the new price compares with the others. And to some pb lovers, no other nut butter will do.

Smuckers is getting rid of some of the less popular brands and its natty brand will continue to increase in price.

The price of t joe's pb, at least in one city, has gone up significantly, and word on the street is that the valencia pb, my pb of choice, is now different, and I wonder if that has to do with the cost of peanuts as well. The article did mention that the valencia pb was affected by crop diseases.

As the article poses, “[n]ow the question becomes whether high prices will bring down demand for peanut butter.” What do you think?

randi morse, randi.morse@gmail.com, newton, ma