Why Is Shredded Wheat So Expensive?

stuckster on 01/06/2022 - 16:31
Last edited 01/06/2022 - 16:33

I recently came across Shredded Wheat as a healthy option for breakfast cereal. I know some of you have been eating this stuff for years.

Also, Uncle Toby's recently switched from using Canadian shredded wheat to British shredded wheat which many of you agree has ruined the product. But even in its current form it's one of the few cereals on the shelves with decent levels of protein and fibre and low sat fat, sugar and sodium.

I'm just trying to understand how and why, at more than $2.00/100g ($5.50 for 270g) it's also one of the most expensive!
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/201809

By comparison Woolworth wheat biscuits are 0.30c/100g, Weetbix 0.50c/100g, Sultana Bran $1.00/100g, Special K $1.20, fancy granola muesli with clusters, fruits and nuts are $1.50/100g. On what planet can plain old shredded wheat possibly cost $2.00 per 100g?? Is it because they import the stuff? And if importing makes the price so high why not make it locally?

I really enjoy it but can't justify paying so much for a product that should be priced somewhere between rolled oats and Weet-bix!

Has anyone got any insights or found any cheap alternatives?

Food & Grocery

Comments

  • Luo18740 on 01/06/2022 - 16:44

    It's expensive per gram as it is imported and only in a small box.

    They don't make it here as there is not enough demand to make it worthwhile.

  • AustriaBargain on 01/06/2022 - 16:45
    +8

    Just get a bale of wheat delivered to your home and shred it yourself.

    • stuckster on 01/06/2022 - 23:23

      I may have to! 😁

  • GG57 on 01/06/2022 - 16:52

    Aren't you paying for the brand?

    • stuckster on 01/06/2022 - 23:25

      Possibly, but it's still very overpriced when compared to other Uncle Toby's cereal products. I suspect as others have mentioned that the high price is due to importing fees.

  • CrowReally on 01/06/2022 - 16:57
    +18

    The wheat itself is relatively cheap but the shredding process itself is both trademarked and a jealously-guarded patented process (invented by Sir Douglas Shred in 1992, now administered by Halliburton Donaldson Phillips Worldwide).

    Everytime food is shredded, 15-20% of the final sale price goes directly to them (this is why we have "pulled" pork, and not "shredded" pork - as a money saving workaround). This is also why paper shredders have a warning in the small print about it being illegal to put food in them.

    Originally it wasn't policed too aggressively (skateboarders used to say 'let's shred', TMNT had 'The Shredder' as a character) but now that the patent is in its final years they're getting more money hungry and getting bang for their buck.

    • DiscountForThee on 01/06/2022 - 20:26
      +1

      Yep, my body builder cousin got sent a cease and desist letter from their lawyers after he was posting on his Instagram story about "getting shredded for summer"

    • stuckster on 01/06/2022 - 23:15

      Hmm. Not sure where you're getting your information from and suspect you might be jesting. 😁
      Shredded Wheat is nontrademarked and has been around since 1892 when it was invented by Henry Perky. Since then it's been manufactured by Kraft, Nabisco and Kellogg's and Nestlé. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shredded_wheat

      Cool story though. 😉

      • CrowReally on 02/06/2022 - 08:53
        +3

        Is it comfortable there, tucked deep in the pocket of Big Shred?

        ;)

        • cuteseal on 02/06/2022 - 15:27

          Look, another Anti-Shredder over there! :P

  • apsilon on 01/06/2022 - 17:21
    +2

    Looking at the dietary info it's not too different than just regular weetbix which is a lot cheaper and still a tasteless, bland breakfast so there's that option.

    • stuckster on 01/06/2022 - 23:17

      Check the sodium levels. Most of the "bland" cereals, Weetbix, All Bran etc all add a bunch of sodium to make them more palletable. So while they're better than most, they don't tick all the boxes for me.

      • apsilon on 02/06/2022 - 07:08
        +1

        True but you do need some sodium in your diet. Recommended daily intake is 2000mg. You can probably work the 84mg of it from a serve of weetbix into your diet. If you're that precise with your diet I assume you're also training and therefore losing sodium through sweat which to an extent needs to be replaced.

        • stuckster on 02/06/2022 - 10:25

          Interesting. I've never really thought about needing to replace sodium lost through sweat.

          Some other points of interest:
          The recommended adequate intake levels for Adults is actually 460-920 mg/day. More if you are active and sweating, but I don't know how much more.

          The current RDI level was only set at 2000mg to ensure that people are consuming a total diet that meets all nutritional requirements, given the current food supply. Essentially meaning that the current food supply has so much sodium that it's virtually impossible to consume less than 2000mg and maintain a healthy diet… even if that means we're still consuming too much sodium.

          https://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/sodium

          The current average sodium intake of the Australia and New Zealand population is about 3600mg/day (almost double the Standard). Personally I aim for about 1500mg/day. So I actively reduce sodium where I can and noticed that breakfast cerals are a big contributer.

  • freefall101 on 01/06/2022 - 17:47
    +2

    What's wrong with just eating weetbix?

    Shredded wheat is probably only sold here to homesick poms/yanks/etc thus there's a huge markup for importing it.

    • AustriaBargain on 01/06/2022 - 18:53

      The poms ripped off Weed-Bix 90 years ago, but we invented it 100 years ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weetabix

    • morse on 01/06/2022 - 18:54
      +1

      The texture of shredded wheat is much nicer in my opinion. I'd kind of forgotten about it until OP posted.

    • stuckster on 01/06/2022 - 23:18

      Sodium in Weet-bix is much higher. 260mg vs 21mg.

  • orangetrain on 01/06/2022 - 19:49
    +2

    Shredded wheat is healthy? It's highly processed. Try oats or something that's not as processed.

    • morse on 01/06/2022 - 20:44

      It's 100% wholegrain wheat. Less processed and you'd be gnawing on raw wheat husks.

      • dcep on 01/06/2022 - 23:58
        +1

        he mistook it as shredded meat

    • stuckster on 01/06/2022 - 23:20

      What do you mean it's highly processed? Do you mean because it comes out of a factory or are you referring to the nutritional value of the ingredients?

      • yabol on 02/06/2022 - 13:44

        I guess he saying it is similar to oat squares.
        They are made from oats but processed, and the effect, including insulin spikes, is similar to other junk food.
        Even the producer (Quaker - PepsiCo) who sponsored the research decided not to share the results with the public.
        You can still find it on PubMed.

        • stuckster on 02/06/2022 - 16:44

          I assume you're talking about these guys https://www.quakeroats.com/products/cold-cereals/oatmeal-squ…

          So aside from the actual flour and wheat these contain brown sugar, sugar, maltodextrin, malted barley extract, cinnamon, molasses, salt, baking soda, natural flavor, tocopherols (to perserve freshness), vitamins & minerals: reduced iron, folic acid.

          On the other hand shredded wheat contains one ingredient… Wholegrain Wheat (100%). That's it.

          So it's probably not a fair comparison

          When people refer to "processed" foods they generally mean something that has lots of artificial colours, flavours, preservatives and other nasty additives that make the product tasty but far from healthy or natural.

          I guess I'd really like to know why @orangetrain thinks it's unhealthy? The fact that it's gone through a shredding machine doesn't make it unhealthy.

  • whatwasherproblem on 01/06/2022 - 21:16

    Is it because they import the stuff?

    Probably so, and so you should prepare for that price to reach ever-higher, butt-clenching levels, what with many of the world's main wheat exporters refusing to export lately.

    And if importing makes the price so high why not make it locally?

    Fingers crossed, Australia itself will start asking this same exact question before things get too much worse.

    • CrowReally on 01/06/2022 - 21:30
      +1

      Australia is in the perfect position to capitalise on the world shortage.

      As long as we didn't have a mouse plague and flooding/ongoing wet weather which has ruined last years' crop as well as making it implausible to plant this years' crop.

  • Clear on 02/06/2022 - 06:19

    Wheat isn't cheap anymore thanks to Russia. It's at an all time high with many insiders saying they've not seen it this high in their 50+ years.

    • stuckster on 02/06/2022 - 10:00

      As one of the world's largest producers of wheat, I wouldn't think Australia is importing any wheat from Russia/Ukraine. But I guess the increased global demand could put some upward pressure on local prices too.

      However I'd agree that imported products would be affected to a much greater extent.

      • Clear on 02/06/2022 - 19:08
        +1

        You're correct about AU being one of the largest producers and not importing it from Ukraine. The issue as you would have guessed supply and demand. With Ukraine being able to ship out wheat, Europe and other countries suddenly have a shortage and need to get it somewhere else quickly. Aussie wheat farmers are able to supply them with wheat and as a result…. higher prices.

        Before the invasion wheat was increasing in price anyway. A lot of it travels around the country by shipping container and they've skyrocketed in price thanks to COVID. Furthermore due to flooding/drought a lot of wheat growers are mixing different varieties of wheat together but not disclosing it when sold. To the average joe the question would be, why does it matter? The quality of flour depends on the protein and if you get a mix of good and bad quality wheat, then the quality of the flour will suffer.

        Of course not everyone can tell the difference between good and bad quality flour. But it all adds up to the costs in the end.

        • stuckster on 02/06/2022 - 20:45

          Good info. Makes sense. Thanks.

  • shutuptakemymoney101 on 03/06/2022 - 20:50

    Packaging (individually packaged servings of two) is probably justification to jack the price up a little too.

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