Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-05-04
Food Prices Stir Wives Revolt
continued prom Fir.l Pare

Continued From First Page
shortages Of fresh fruits and
vegetables 10 charge all that
the traiiic would bear-the law
OF supply and demand In lis
most virulent form. That's why
stores say they we're forced TO
charge 30 cents for one green
pepper and Is cents for one
cucumber.
The sharp rise In the price
Of potatoes was due not 20 a
potato SHORTAGES some would
have you believe-but TO specu-
lation on the commodity ex-
change, combined with growers
holding potatoes of the market
for higher prices.
Spring Crop Curtailed
The Florida freeze did curtaL
the spring crop, but there were
plenty of storage potatoes 10
ward Of q shortage. The effect
Of the Florida freeze on the
potato supply was more psy-
Geological than actual, but the
spectators made the most of It.
In meats. q beef shortage
was created because cattlemen
were rebuilding their herds and
holding back beef for breed
ing.
When the shortage forced UP
prices, the feed-lot operators
those who feed the steers TO
become choice" meats-began
demanding much higher prices
from the packers. who bid
against each other TO maintain
full operation. The packers
passed on the increased costs
to the wholesalers. who passed
them on to the retail stores.
who tried to pass them on TO
the customers.
AS the customers resisted
paying $50 or more . pound
for steaks and switched to
other meats. the demand they
had created forced UP those
prices, too. >,
Some Prices Stable
With q few notable excep-
tons, the prices Of frozen
foods and canned goods have
remained fairly stable. The ex-
ceptions: frozen citrus juices,
frozen meat preparations and
canned standard tomatoes.
How much OF the rise In
frozen orange Juice was due
to an actual shortage in stocks
and how much was due to the
efforts Of Mrs. Housewife to
substitute frozen for fresh
juice is anybody's guess. But
the fact is that retailers say
that their cost for q dozen
cans rose from $1.47 last August
to $2.4l now: The result:
Customers who were paying
IS cents for four cans last
August now are asked to pay
81 cents for one can.
On canned standard toma-
toes, retailers report their cost
has changed five times since
January. for a total increase Of
IS cents for a 2-dozen-can
case. For the housewife, the
price went up from three cans
for 80 cents to two for IS. The
reason for the price increase:
When Southern stores couldn't I
get heir canned tomatoes from
Florida Gamers, they moved {
into the Tri-State area from !
which our canned tomatoes
come. The Gamers saw q good '
thing and raised the prices.
The Grocery Manufacturers '
Of America, however, fatty
deny that "profiteering" by the
food industry has caused the
sharply increasing spread be- l
tween what the farmers receive
and what the consumer pays at
the grocery.
Average Net Profits
The association reported yes L
terday that the average net
profits Of food manufacturers
and distributors is now at q
rate Of three cents Of the con-
sumer's food dollar, compared
to q prewar rate Of approx
mately 6 cents. They blame
the increase on rising costs Of
labor, taxes and transporta-
ton. \
AS far as competition will
let them, the retail stores try
to pass on the higher costs to
the housewife, but competition
doesn't always let them.
One grocery chain executive
said the chains usually follow
this policy: When the cost of
an item goes up. they will ex-
haust their own stocks at the
lower price and then raise the
price as soon as their compete
tors supply of the lower priced
goods also Is exhausted.
Sometimes, they will lower
the price as soon as they know
they can get the goods cheaper
and even before they have
houcht at the lower urice