Back from self-imposed hiatus
A little about me. I am a former US Navy submarine cook/baker. My passion was, and still is, baking breads, pastries and cakes. After I retired from the Navy, I worked in a few bakeries around town, then left the profession to do mechanical maintenance work. In 2011 I rebuilt an old 1985 Hobart A200 dough mixer and began making Filipino breads and pastries to sell to friends and family. In 2015, I hung up my baker's cap and "mothballed" my mixer. It was a sad day for my clients who loved my breads.
Now that this self-quarantine has been going on, I decided to practice baking my breads and pastries again. My yeast, that I always kept in a glass jar in my refrigerator seemed okay but, for some reason, it was slow acting. I thought that I should buy some fresher yeast and looked online at Amazon. I could not believe that in the last 5 or more years, the cost of yeast would rise that high. Amazon was selling a 16 oz. bag for around $15. I went to the local Sam's Club and found that they were selling a two-pack of 16 oz. bags for the low price of $5.
Here is where my question comes in. Bread flour. I used to purchase 5 pounds of Gold Medal "Better for Bread" bread flour at the local AFB commissary for about 3 to 4 USD each. This had to be about 5 years ago. Now, I can't seem to find it in most of the super markets around here. So, I went online to Amazon. Most of the bread flour is being sold for about $2 per pound, or $99 for a 50 lb bag. I found at Sam's Club a 25 lb. bag of bread flour they are selling for just under $8 for the bag. This comes out to about 32 cents per pound. Granted, it's not King Arthur of Gold Medal, but it's a lot less than $2 per pound.
Does anyone know when the cost of bread flour actually began escalating? Was it due to this pandemic? Is it because more people are baking at home now? Just curious.