It's a brave man who accuses Bill Blunt of being a skinflint. I don't mind splashing a bit of cash when it's warranted. At the same time, in Austerity Britain it pays to keep an eye on prices.
I've blogged previously about my love of bread-making - and in particular my use of a particular organic flour produced by Doves Farm. When I first mentioned this, I highlighted how I could buy 1.5kg bags of their wholemeal flour for just 60p, in Sainsbury's. That was in January 2008.
A little later (March 2008) I noted how the price had all but doubled, to £1.19 for a bag.
It's been a year or so since I made a loaf, and I wanted to return to the fray. Imagine my horror to discover that Sainsbury's now charge £1.99 for the same 1.5kg. That's an increase of 350% in less than five years.
I'm not so witless as to think that prices stand still - but inflation has been running at an all time low for the last few years. I'm sure some of the increase is due to increasing demand for wheat, at a time when harvests haven't always been great. Nevertheless, I suspect someone's making a killing somewhere along the line.
