Food Prices To Remain High

ARLINGTON, Va.—"Sticky" prices are keeping the cost of groceries up, despite dropping oil prices, the Associated Press reported. Sticky prices refer to companies that "slap higher prices on products and keep them there even though the rationale for the price hikes, such as soaring oil prices, is gone,” the news source reported.
The drop in the price of oil could help foodmakers regain lost profits, not drop raised food prices. According to the AP: “The price of consumer goods typically lags behind the price of key inputs like oil and wheat," said Chris Lafakis, an economist with Moody's economy.com. "Consumer prices don't change near as fast, because they are set by companies. Commodity prices are set every day on an open market."
Unfortunately, once food prices are up, they are unlikely to ever fall unless there is a “drastic drop in demand, but few economists expect the global economic downturn to be so severe it would cause widespread deflation," Lafakis told the Associated Press.