WASHINGTON COUNTY – According to a report by MSN Money, the price of peanut butter is set to jump by 30 percent in November (see story here); however, Lamar Gubler with Farmer’s Market in La Verkin says it’s already happened to sugar and beef, and peanut butter will see a spike at the first of October or sooner.

“We specially ordered [peanut butter] in right now because it’s going up real soon,” Gubler said.

Gubler said a 12-pack of planters creamy peanut butter is selling for around $27 right now, but will go up to $31 or $32 within two weeks, or sooner. Farmer’s Market began it’s two week case lot sale today, but Gubler said to expect prices to climb after that.

“The way the economy is, I expect it to stay high,” he said. “Sugar just went up over 20 percent. That was two or three weeks ago. A lot of its confectionary sugar, the kind you make icing and stuff with. Regular sugar has gone up also.”

And according to Gubler, the price of beef has also seen high increases.

While MSN reported the increased cost is associated with a record drought in Texas and excessive heat in Georgia, Gubler said it has more to do with inflation and the economy.

“Everything is going up,” he said. “A lot of it is because of inflationary pressure because of the dollar going down. [The dollar] has gone up in the last week, but that doesn’t mean much in the long term. [The government] pumps money into the economy and inflation is driving the prices. Beef and meat is up quite substantially.”

Gubler said that while the federal government claims inflation is up 2-3 percent, it is more like 14 percent from 20 years ago.

However, Gubler added there was a small silver lining in the horizon.

“Gas, however, is coming down. Slowly. [The decreased fuel prices] hasn’t hit us very much yet,” he said.

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