$68 for Teddy Grahams Crackers on Amazon? Here We Go Again…

Prices are rising and supplies are low at the grocery store, but it’s not hoarding that’s causing the issues this time around.  

Well, maybe that's not entirely true. I'm sure there's probably a certain amount of hoarding going on by Mainers. And who can blame them? If your favorite kind of coffee is suddenly available, you're probably going to buy more than one canister, right? I know I would, just to make sure we have it when it disappears again. I can see it with the staples that you need all the time, like toilet paper.

But Teddy Grahams crackers? Actually, are they crackers or cookies? I'm not sure and, I guess, it's really not important. I've been looking for the chocolate variety of these delicious little treats and I can't find them anywhere. No Hannaford I've been in has them, and Walmart doesn't either. Honestly, I've felt like a hunter tracking the elusive brown bear.

So, I decided to go to Amazon and see if I could find them there. I did. This is great, I thought. A case of six boxes of chocolate Teddy Grahams and I'll be set for the winter....or at least a couple of months. Then I noticed there was no price listed. Instead, it had a link to 'buyer options.' That's never a good sign. I clicked the link and found the price. $68.99 for a carton of six boxes. That figures out to be about $11.50 per box. At Hannaford, they usually go for just over $3. Before you ask, no, I won't be paying that for a box of crackers. Cookies? Whatever.

The grocery store employees I've spoken with tell me that the shortages are being caused by a combination of transportation challenges and plant closures. So, COVID is forcing many manufacturers to operate under limited hours or to close temporarily, and trucking companies are having a tough time finding drivers. Put it together and you get some company in Alaska that's trying to make a profit of $8 per box on a kids' snack.

I think it's time to start Googling recipes for chocolate graham crackers.