Inflation illustrated by popcorn prices. Our local Giant has two options for popcorn: theirs (cheap, flavorless, low yield) and Orville Redenbacher (super-premium). I had been very dissatisfied with the store brand popcorn, but Orville Redenbacher is astonishingly expensive (something like $6 for a not-quite-two-pound jar).
I did what I always do and looked online, and found several sources for so-called gourmet popcorn. Weighing price and shipping costs, I ordered one of everything from Yoder Popcorn. With shipping, about ten pounds of popcorn came to $26.72, cheaper than Orville and more interesting to boot. Our favorites were the red (nutty!), Sunburst (popcorny!), and Ladyfinger (subtle but addictive!) flavors. Nine months later we’re almost out, so I’m about to order more, and the prices have gone up.
Ladyfinger, which was already premium-priced, had the smallest price increase. The “tiny tender” varieties also had smaller price increases, but we didn’t like them enough to pay the price premium (and also a weight premium on shipping the jars, for that matter). If I were in this just for economy I’d order the plain ol’ yellow - even with the price more than 20% higher than last year’s, and even with shipping costs, it would still be cheaper than Orville (around $2/lb) and (I think) better in taste and texture. But I’m not in it just for economy, so I’ll also be ordering a bag of the newest premium (blue) just so I’ll still have tried everything.
The most striking lesson I learned is that white popcorn is so not worth the price premium over yellow. It tastes like paper. Yellow popcorn at least tastes like popcorn. Also: popcorn ordered direct from the middle of Indiana is good, and well worth the shipping cost.
