Experts are warning that high oil and diesel prices could soon lead to increased costs for groceries and other household staples.<\/p>\n
Diesel prices currently average more than $5 per gallon nationwide, a roughly 38% increase from just one month ago.<\/p>\n
The surge in fuel costs impacts nearly every stage of the supply chain, from the natural gas used to produce fertilizer to the fuel required for farm equipment and long-haul shipping. While some retailers may initially absorb these higher transportation costs, financial professionals suggest the impact could eventually reach consumers at the checkout counter.<\/p>\n
Also impacting prices is the fact that a significant portion of global fertilizer exports travels through the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
Jeff Ragland, a financial professional, explained that all of these factors contribute to the rising cost of farming.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes production of just raw foods more expensive in general,\u201d Ragland said. He added that because of diesel costs, \u201cit\u2019s more expensive to get to the store.\u201d<\/p>\n
Small business owners are feeling the immediate impact of these price surges.<\/p>\n
Rafiel Lapuente, owner of Fish Basket Northwest, noted the change in operational costs for his food truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe 5 minutes ago, I go to put my diesel in my truck,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s up (to) $6 per gallon. It\u2019s very, very expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n
While fuel prices have spiked, Ragland said most goods currently on store shelves were likely produced and shipped under previous price agreements.<\/p>\n
Ragland explained that consumers could notice the change as new harvests arrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs more food start coming from the farms, that\u2019s when you\u2019re really going to start feeling it at the grocery store,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some experts suggested that retailers might absorb these higher transport costs for a limited time if the market fluctuations are short-lived.<\/p>\n
To save money, LeAnn Dailey, a resident of SeaTac, said she uses coupons and various retail apps to provide for her family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to feed all the kids,\u201d Dailey said.<\/p>\n
She noted that while these methods help, the savings can be offset by the cost of traveling to different stores.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore on gas, because then you travel further,\u201d Dailey said.<\/p>\n
Experts recommend that shoppers consider generic brands over name brands, buy items in bulk if they offer a discount, and use cash-back applications to save money.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Experts are warning that high oil and diesel prices could soon lead to increased costs for groceries and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":351808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,160065,153331,113,63615,61,60,160063,160064,105489],"class_list":["post-351807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-diesel-costs","tag-diesel-prices","tag-economy","tag-fuel-prices","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jeff-ragland","tag-transport-costs","tag-transportation-costs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}