Yes, it “is” a case of convenience foods make the price go up.
Obviously I was not comparing apples to apples because I chose beef as the comparison which is vastly more expensive than the constituent ingredients of the prepackaged food.
I can make those burgers myself for about 1 to 2 dollars of the veggie/legume/rice ingredients so let’s get real here.
I’m just not sure what we’re all arguing about any more. We all largely agree with one another, but the comments in this thread are all over the place
Are we trying to make an argument against the outrageous price of pre-packaged food (which we all agree have gotten out of hand)? If so, we should be comparing frozen veggie patties against their non-pre-packaged counterparts, not against beef or sandwich bread or whatever else people keep bringing up in the comments.
Are we trying to argue that OP is dumb for picking the most expensive options on the shelf if they’re going to complain about price? Because yeah, everyone already knows that a 70% lean turkey burger on Wonder Bread is going to be cheaper than Kobe beef on an artisanal brioche bun with truffle butter. Veggie burgers have always been expensive because they required years of R&D to make them palatable since they have to survive the freeze & thaw, sit on the shelf for months, and be viable as a boxed product (unlike our home-made versions). What’s worse, they’re still niche enough that they don’t benefit from economies of scale. It’s old news.
Are we trying to argue that inflation is going nuts right now (which we also already agree on)? Because if so, OP picked a dumb collection of ingredients to make that point since I doubt many people have an instinctive feel for how much Gardein used to charge. Show us the price for beef & bargain buns today, then compare that to what a burger used to cost and then we’ll talk.
My point was just that if you’re arguing the first one, then actually pick comparable ingredients for your comparison instead of beef.
Yes, it “is” a case of convenience foods make the price go up.
Obviously I was not comparing apples to apples because I chose beef as the comparison which is vastly more expensive than the constituent ingredients of the prepackaged food.
I can make those burgers myself for about 1 to 2 dollars of the veggie/legume/rice ingredients so let’s get real here.
I’m just not sure what we’re all arguing about any more. We all largely agree with one another, but the comments in this thread are all over the place
My point was just that if you’re arguing the first one, then actually pick comparable ingredients for your comparison instead of beef.