Devotees Of Deep-Fried Food Could Be Facing Price Hikes For Their Favorite Fare

(Coyoty)

Take a look at that fried chicken sandwich/French fry/potato chip you’re about to eat. It could soon cost you more money to reach deep-fried satisfaction, as the crops necessary to make the vegetable oil used by many companies to fry your favorite foods to a golden crisp are struggling in Canada.

The canola seeds grown in Canada’s Prairie provinces that are then crushed to make the oil used by McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell and Frito-Lay are suffering after a dry spell this year, reports Bloomberg, making it harder for farmers to produce enough oilseeds for the second year in a row.

“We’ve just been missing every rain,” one grower from Saskatchewan told Bloomberg.

Canola has had issues lately in Canada, with prices spiking 18% from a four-year low last September. Other crops like wheat, barley and lentils are also having issues because of the lack of moisture.

And it could get worse — the price of canola, or rapeseed as it’s also called, could climb even more if the dry spell lasts into June, hitting the highest price since May 2014, one expert explains.

When the companies that buy the oil needed for deep fryers have to pay more, it’s very likely that the extra cost could be passed on to the consumer, so cherish the cheapness you’re enjoying every time you bite into a golden, salty piece of fried potato delight while you can.

Deep-Frying Anything Gets More Expensive as Canada Soil Goes Dry [Bloomberg]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist