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Get your free copy16 December 2021, 13:37 PM
- Sally Assinder of Pasta Garofalo explains why pasta prices could soon be set to rise
The vast majority of dry Pasta is made from two ingredients; durum wheat semolina and water. Durum wheat is the second-most-cultivated variety of wheat after common wheat, and the latest crop to face price and supply constraints even as consumer demand grows thanks to an increase of at-home cooking during the pandemic.
However, the durum wheat market is rocketing probably as never in the past, and pasta producers are facing a ‘perfect storm’. This is mostly due to the largest production area (Canada & Northern US) suffering a reduction in harvests of approximately 50%, and it is likely that there will not be enough durum wheat to meet global demands in the near future. Along with this, the pasta industry is facing many of the same issues that are affecting other producers with increased costs in power for production, packaging material and just recently UK logistics.
Semolina price increases have and continue to be so dramatic that it will be impossible for the pasta industry as a whole to avoid considerable price rises on pasta. However, on a more positive note, we are seeing a rise in sales of Garofalo Whole Wheat Pasta as the trend, post-Covid lockdown, continues seeing customers interested in the nutritional content of the food they eat.
