The Seattle Timesreports that a combination of a weak dollar and higher shipping costs is making gourmet and specialty items more costly. Basic grocery food items are also on the rise.
A weak U.S. dollar and higher shipping costs mean less buying power in many parts of the world, especially Europe, where it costs about $1.44 to buy one euro, up from $1.30 this time last year.
Combine those factors with rising wheat and rice prices and poor harvests of products like saffron and figs, and Seattle area importers, distributors and gourmet shops say to expect higher prices on a host of items, from olive oil and vinegar to cheese, pastas, wine and English sea salts.
"I would expect the grocery bill to spike fairly significantly at specialty or gourmet stores, particularly those importing their products," said Darren Brewster, an international trade specialist with Tacoma's World Trade Center.
Some items may become so expensive that you won't be able to find them anymore says the Seattle Times article.
At EvZe World Gourmet in Seattle's Eastlake neighborhood, that missing product will be Fideo, a Spanish pasta with squid ink. Owner Tony Aikens likes to cook it with canned octopus, smoked paprika and olive oil, but he doubts customers will buy a bag of pasta for $8, no matter how flavorful. Now he's absorbing price increases on a favorite brand of Italian lentils, hoping they don't suffer the same fate.
In the market for cataplanas? Once the domed copper clam cookers from Portugal sell out, The Spanish Table won't restock.
If you are using a lot of imported gourmet food items you should probably expect your monthly food bill to rise.
