I wrote the following from 10/27/2010-11/12/2010, but never published because I wanted to do some more work. Alas, my ADD got the best of me, and that never really happened. After paying $1.10 today to have Swiss cheese added to a buffalo chicken wrap at a diner in NJ, though, I’m again curious about the difference between wholesale and retail food price inflation. So, without further adieu, here are my thoughts from then, which apparently are more valid today then they were just 6 months ago!
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Over the past few years – depending on the particular restaurant and time – I’ve been charged anywhere from $0.40 to $1.00 for adding cheese, tomatoes, etc to lunch or breakfast sandwiches. I’m hardly an expert in agricultural commodity markets and only slightly less out of the loop re: the finer points of the restaurant business (but also hardly ignorant of either), so I assumed whatever, not a huge deal, I’m sure my patronage is padding restaurants’ margins, but its ~$0.50 and I’m (often) too lazy to make my own lunch so I’ll keep buying from delis/etc.
Enough about me and my elasticity of demand/food preparation inclination/etc…
comfortablysmug
georgetownjack
macrotradr
Naked Bond Bear
The Analyst
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CJ
Stone Street Advisors 