The Associated Press is saying that rising food costs are driving people to buy more Spam, despite the fact that the Spam itself is more expensive. Are you really doing this?
The price of Spam is up too, with the average 12 oz. can costing about $2.62. That’s an increase of 17 cents, or nearly 7 percent, from the same time last year. But it’s not stopping sales, as the pork meat in a can seems like a good alternative to consumers.
Kimberly Quan, a stay-at-home mom of three who lives just outside San Francisco, has been feeding her family more Spam in the last six months as she tries to make her food budget go further.
She cooks meals like Spam fried rice and Spam sandwiches two or three times a month, up from once a month previously.
Pulling Spam from the shelf prevents last-minute grocery store trips and overspending, said Quan, 38, of Pleasanton, Calif.
“It’s canned meat and it’s in the cupboard and if everything else is gone from the fridge, it’s there,” she said.
Spam’s maker, Hormel Foods Corp., reported last week that it saw strong sales of Spam in the second quarter, helping push up its profits 14 percent. According to sales information coming from Hormel, provided by The Nielsen Co., Spam sales were up 10.6 percent in the 12-week period ending May 3, compared to last year. In the last 24 weeks, sales were up nearly 9 percent.
The Austin, Minn.-based company, also known for the Jennie-O Turkey Store, has embarked on its first national advertising campaign for the 71-year-old brand in several years. They’ve credited the sales increase to that, along with new products like individually packaged “Spam Singles” slices. Also helping sales, executives said in an earnings conference call, was the fact that people looking to save money are skipping restaurant meals and eating more at home.
Spam Singles? According to the article Spam costs about $3.49 per lbs. Is this a good deal? Our local grocery store in Brooklyn has boneless chicken breasts on sale for $2.49 per lbs.
Another woman in the article says she’s feeding her kids ramen more often:
April Smith has been changing the way she feeds her family in Broken Arrow, Okla., to keep up with rising costs. This summer the 33-year-old administrative assistant will feed her two boys, ages 11 and 8, more ramen for lunch. Normally they eat the noodle soup on Saturdays, but since ramen costs about a dime per pack, they’ll get it twice a week. Smith says she’ll throw in some leftover frozen vegetables to make it more nutritious.
“Since it’s cheap and easy, I figure why not let them eat it twice a week instead of once a week,” Smith said.
What are you doing to save money at the grocery store? Is canned meat involved?
Sales of Spam rise as consumers trim food costs [AP]
(Photo: jodsey )
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Don’t forget, these are the same people who have/had junk mortgages. It’s like one big dumb mass of americans who can’t get anything right.
Mmmmm spam.
@scarysnow
@scarysnow: You shouldn’t be so shocked at the responses you have received. For example, a car may run better on premium gas but regular gas may be all people can afford. It serves no purpose to point out how much nicer your car runs on premium; that you wouldn’t be caught dead pumping regular; and those who do are uncivilized savages (to paraphrase), is demeaning and worthy of a vitriolic response.
I am sure no one here would argue with you that fresh food tastes better. The point is not everyone has the luxury of finances or time to buy fresh food. They must make do with what they can.
If you don’t like frozen foods or think they’re beneath you, good for you, don’t eat it. Go get yourself some FRESH juicy roast beef, dab a little Grey Poupon on it (not too much) and bon appetite. But are you so out of touch that you don’t get that people are fighting hard to survive and take care of their families? They are struggling to pay their bills, fill up their gas tanks and put food on the table. The taste of frozen chicken is the least of their doggone concerns.
hell, I feed a family of 5 on like $250 a month. Spam is definately NOT on the menu, although I don’t snub my nose at people who eat it. I spend about $100 on meats, $100 on refrigerated foods/frozen foods, and $50 on boxed/canned stuff on sale. My pantry is full because I bargain shop. I do what many people do, wait until meat is about to expire and it’s marked down, or wait for a fantastic sale.
Not that hard when you’ve been stocking a house for 6 years and know the “average” costs of things. If you don’t know that, you don’t know a deal.
(P.S.- up here in NY, the Freihofer’s outlet is PHENOMENAL!)
The only canned meat I will touch is Chili, and it’s only if I’m too lazy to make it myself.
@Lambasted: Oops, edit: It is demeaning and worthy of a vitriolic response.
Where’s an edit button when you need one.
@Lambasted:
eating frozen foods is a convenience thing, not a price thing. the price is relatively the same for what you get. it’s not like the point of my original thought was to bash poor people. i was actually surprised that people associate frozen food with being poor, and therefore have a reason to be defensive about it. if someone’s self-worth is tied up in how you buy your food, then you’ll have to work that out on your own.
my point was that i hate frozen food, it tastes, in my opinion, no better than SPAM. Lots of SPAM bashing here, and yet when I interject by bashing frozen food, I’m the bad guy. I didn’t see anyone defending people who are forced to eat SPAM.
I think the snobbery is on the other end of the table here, and it comes from apparent insecurities I was not aware of. feel free to spell check this for me, if anyone has no better counter argument.
I’ll also note that I’m pretty convinced that anyone on this blog isn’t “poor” poor. I mean, 99% probably have cable internet, cable tv, take plane rides, and shop for computer hardware, all of which they complain about on a daily basis.
Not exactly the portrait of the poor and downtrodden. More like whiny, spoiled little kids who aren’t making as much as their mommies and daddies did.
I have a feeling I’m as good as toast here as a commenting presence, but I wanted to make my point clear. Bon voyage.
(again, feel free to check for spelling and grammar.)
@scarysnow:
See there is this thing called a sale. People without a lot of money must stock up on items when they are on sale not when they are fresh. To keep said items free of bacteria and other nasty germs, they must be kept frozen. Clearly you must not have to buy foods on sale. Thus, I understand why the importance and necessity of freezing may be lost on you.
The only one being defensive is you. I simply pointed out your failure to see beyond your own lifestyle and how others may live. You berated people who choose to freeze food. I countered that for some people freezing isn’t a choice. Thus, indirectly freezing can be based on one’s financial status.
Good for you. Shame everyone doesn’t have the luxury of eating fresh, non-spamlike foods. I have always lived my life by the notion , “All words have meaning. Use them carefully and wisely.” It’s one thing for someone to say they hate Spam or frozen foods. But I would never go on about how gross it is, tastes like road kill, no better than dog food (I exaggerate) because I know that some people reading here may be hurt by those words, especially if they have no other choice but to eat Spam and frozen foods. That is not being defensive. That is being considerate and compassionate. I don’t have to live a life to understand it. Context is key here. After all, the premise of the article is that people are forced to make food choices based on financial decisions not preferences.
Well, it’s not Spam but it comes in the same size and shape of can. It’s called Holiday Luncheon Meat and, at 95 cents, is a good buy. I like it and probably get about six to eight sandwiches per can. The meat is chicken and pork. I’d rather it didn’t have the MSG, but it’s there.
i havent really changed my eating habits due to price increases but as a general rule i have always looked for really good deals on ramen, boxes of pasta, boxes of mac and cheese, jars of pasta sauce, and frozen vegetables. whenever i find them for super cheap i stock up because they have pretty long shelf lives. throw some peas and broccoli into some mac and cheese or some ramen with soy sauce or some pasta and sauce and you have a decent (if not super healthy) quickly made meal. having all of these items constantly at hand also cuts down on the desire to order in or make a drive thru run when you are feeling too tired/lazy to cook a real meal or go restock on groceries.
i also stock up on sardines, tuna, and crackers when they are on sale like mad. most people think its gross but my idea of a decent lunch is a tin of sardines or tuna, some hot sauce, and some crackers,
I’m always amazed by the price sway within the same brand of ramen. It goes from over $1.00 to around $0.10 per pouch, depending on store and quantity bought.
Now, I can see paying $1.00 per pouch for imported Japanese brands, but I’m talking about Top or Maruchan here. I bet it’s highest in convenience stores on college campuses that let you use meal plan points as cash.
@Bladefist: That’s cause we provide a lot of food duh.
Well…no, Spam isn’t specifically a part of my family’s plan to save money. I was raised to care about eating well first–not just being able to afford food but being able to afford to eat the food I’d actually *want* to eat. And then everything else comes after that. But I’m Filipino, so I was raised on Spam, definitely, kind of like the way that folks in Hawaii love their Spam too. I still enjoy Spam every once in a while as a treat. I like my Spam fried and preferably with some fried eggs and a side of warm rice. Yummy!
And it’s funny that Ramen would get mentioned here. Just the other day this week, some Filipino co-workers and I talked about Ramen. I told them I was weirded out by one of my friends in elementary school when she sprinkled parmesan cheese on top of her bowl of Ramen. And…I think she was equally weirded out when I said I’d prefer my Ramen “plain,” with no cheese on top. O.o And then I told them about how my parents and I like our Ramen. We like poaching eggs in the broth and adding other ingredients–Asian dumplings, green onions, maybe some crabmeat, or other stuff in the fridge that we think would taste good in the soup. My dad got us hooked to adding all this stuff to the soup–we turn those lowly packages of Ramen into actual meals, or try to.
@chewiemeat:
It is “ungodly expensive” to shop for most people due to the fact that the majority of us don’t get raises.
3% inflation every year is fine if the company you work for actually gives a damn about its employees, but very few companies seem to. Without a raise every year, people have seen a spike in the prices of everything with nothing to put money back in their pockets.
That’s the real reason people suddenly can’t afford to feed their families – they have to fit the same amount of groceries in a smaller bag.
@Bladefist:
This is partially because most foreign markets pre-emptively raise prices. It puts more of a burden on people in the short-term, but evens out over time.
They have to adjust rather rapidly, but this is a lot better than our policy of trying to ignore the problem and hope that it goes away without our having to make any sacrifices at all.
I second the folks who encourage eating eggs for cheap and nutritious protein. I think being affluent makes people forget that you can eat things like egg salad for lunch for pennies (okay, maybe dimes).
Things like water-packed tuna and ground turkey (in my case, ground chicken as they don’t sell turkey in Japan) are also good to put into the rotation for meals. Obviously, avoid processed food as it’s very poor value.
The biggest way to save money though is to never waste any food you buy and not to eat out. So many people stock up on food and it rots or becomes outdated before they consume it. I’d imagine that if everyone ate up every food item they bought, they’d see savings sufficient for making up for food price increases at this point.
I won’t join the Spam bashers though I don’t care for it myself. However, there are a lot of Asians who adore it, including the Japanese who are held up as being the healthiest eaters in the world.
@Lambasted: Kudos to you for having the patience to take apart ScarySnow’s opinions and mere assertions, which SS mistook for actual arguments and reasoning.
Personally I’ve always got some ramen and a can of turkey Spam in the cabinet. Not because I’m trying to save money, but just because I like them. Although I don’t know how people can eat regular flavor Spam. That stuff is salty!
The sodium in ramen comes from the seasoning packet. I never use the seasoning packet.
I still stand by my thoughts that the high carb high preservative food will cost you more in the long run.. I ate “cheap” for years, and have spent the last 5 trying to unload it from my butt…the path for me was fresh, and organic/hormone free. And yes it is more expensive, but the weight loss speaks for itself… People need to eat less- and better foods.
As for saving money- I stand by Slickdeals to keep me in all the free toothpaste and shampoo I can handle. I have so much of that stuff, I donate it.
@scarysnow: I don’t eat spam and I don’t eat carbs. I don’t think I pay an ungodly amount for groceries because I don’t eat anything processed and that’s where the premium is. Also, frozen veggies such as broccoli and spinach are typically cheaper than their fresh counterparts and are perfect for like a breakfast frittata. I also don’t abide by breakfast foods. This morning, for example, I’m having tomato slices with fresh mozarella for breakfast…but I’ve never really been one for breakfast foods.
@azgirl: I ate “cheap” for years, and have spent the last 5 trying to unload it from my butt…
I don’t know. I eat more rice now and I eat a lot of cheap foods (never did like SPAM or ramen though) and I weigh a lot less than I did before.
My mom used to serve it with sliced pineapple on top to dress it up.
Chicken thighs are great, as cheap food goes. They’re 99 cents a pound at most of my local megamarts, and, prepared properly, they’re lean and tasty. If you need a fast meal, de-bone and de-skin a couple (it’s easy to do) and give them a hot and fast sear; you’ll be eating inside of 10 minutes. Hell of a lot better than spam, and it’s been my cut of choice lately unless I can get a whole chicken on sale for even cheaper (which is more frequent than you think).
@scarysnow:
Either you’re a crappy cook or that’s all in your head.
I get the Ramen thing, it really is cheap especially when you’re in a hurry. But SPAM? I can buy a pound of lean hamburger for less than it would cost me to buy a pound of SPAM, plus SPAM is disgusting. Only idiots shop this way.
@sweetdaddyo: Amen to that! Even looking at a picture of the can makes me ill a little but I do have friends that absolutely love it. To each his own!
@Scoobatz: You’re correct about Spam being popular in Hawaii. I was stationed out there in the late 80s, and the folks out there LOVE it. There are cookbooks available with scads of Spam-containing recipes. It’s not unheard of to see truckload sales on Spam, and people will line up to buy a box or two when such an event is held.
It’s true; Spam is near and dear to the kamaaina heart out there.
@commu6: Spam musubi? Hells yeah! You can easily find them in just about any okazuya in the Aloha State. But you’ve got to show up early, because when they’ve sold out of the fresh ones that day, they don’t make any more. Construction workers and schoolkids seem to buy a lot of them, so if you’ve got the taste for Spam musubi, better start hunting before 9 AM or you might be out of luck.
In a small household, we find that a sack of potatoes goes bad before we eat it. We can’t afford to waste food, so we buy canned potatoes. Same with just about any bulk fresh food item – if we can’t freeze it, we buy it canned.
from wikipedia:
A 56 gram (approximately 2 ounce) serving of original Spam provides 7 grams of protein, 2 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of fat (23% US Daily Value) including 6 grams of saturated fat (28% US Daily Value), and over 170 calories. Unfortunately, a serving contains nearly a third of the recommended daily intake of sodium (salt). Spam provides very little in terms of vitamins and minerals (0% vitamin A, 1% vitamin C, 1% calcium, 3% iron).
i think that pretty much speaks for itself. fact is there are really easy to make that are a LOT better for and a LOT more cost effective then spam.
@verucalise: man, i miss freihofer’s baked goods.
you guys, the woman in the article lives outside of San francisco. Food costs more here. Fresh boneless skinless chicken breast meat is about $5.50 / on, but you might see $4/ lb on a good sale. If you shop costco, you can buy bulk and get $3/lb, but that’s nastified 15% salt water added chicken. Good chicken is usually $6-7.50 lb. Yes, we really pay that much more for food.
*reading as I eat my farm raised porterhouse steak and laughing manically*
Grow and butcher your own food. Healthier, cheaper, and tastier. If you don’t have room for a steer or 2 get something smaller like a back yard goat or chickens. For you city slickers try a window box garden or even raise a couple meat rabbits indoors. You would be surprised how many meals a few hares and a freezer can give you and how good they actually taste.
@Lambasted: Well done, I couldn’t agree more.