u/ATreeGrowinBklyn

What are you stocking up on to build a cushion against rising prices?

I'm neither a hoarder or doomsday prepper. I am just a thoughtful consumer and want to act wisely in anticipation of price increases in the items we use regularly.

The USDA is projecting grocery price increases of at least 3%. I suspect they are being conservative by not fully considering the impact of the weather patterns around the world and minimizing the current tariff policies.

Here is the what (and why) of the few things we are on the lookout for:

We are a plant-forward household, but I am keeping my eye out to buy extra ground beef. The clock is ticking on the temporary tariff suspension (it ends in November) and US cattle herds remain at an all time low.

Canned tomato products. Domestic brands import raw aluminumn from Canada. The 50% tariff imposed on Canada and the rising gas prices are (always) shifted back to the manufacturer and consumer. The store shelves are now being stocked with the products produced under the tariffs. We use canned tomatoes a lot in the colder months, but really all items in cans will be impacted.

Imported olive oil and wine. We plan on getting a bigger than usual basic brand of EVO for cooking now. We will buy a smaller amount of better quality EVO to consume in uncooked recipes. The impact of the European heatwaves and forest fires probably will hit wine prices by the end of next year. We always start pricing wine and alcohol for holiday entertaining and gift giving now.

Oatmeal. It is our weekday breakfast of choice. It is generally economical, but we've already noticed the price uptick (and absence of the usual cyclical store sales). The drought and heatwaves have decimated the grain crops. We just purchased an institutional sized container of oats that was on sale. We will also be picking up extra flour and 100% cane sugar for holiday baking.

I'm eager to learn if there are other things we should put on our list.

Edit I: Thanks for reading my post and responding. Please know, I am reading all the comments, but can't respond to all (I tried to).

There are so many suggestions and it is really helpful to learn all the diffrent ways one can power through this unsettling time.

Be well.

Edit II: For all the coffee folks, the harvests around the world are improving! The coffee futures being contracted are a bit lower. We will see/feel that on the shelves soon.

Also, we did grocery shopping last night. 90% of the artisanal coffees were on sale. This was not noted in the sale circular! This is a good reminder to be on the lookout for those manager/unadvertised sales.