Why in god's name is unrefined sugar more expensive

jverne

jverne

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than refined white sugar?

Same with wholegrain flower, i mean they are literally screwing us over on something that was once deemed poor man's food.

And unrefined sugar tastes much better.
Here's my recipe...take unrefined sugar cubes, dip them in fresh lemon juice and suck on them. It's the ultimate tooth killer but it tastes wonderful.
 
I've often seen Coke on sale cheaper than bottled water.
 
God isn't real, therefore unrefined sugar is more expensive.
 
It's probably something to do with that whole supply/demand thing.
 
You don't buy small amounts of unrefined sugar. You buy it in bulk, for trading or selling. It's almost exclusively for commercial, not private, purposes.

/economist
 
Low sodium or no sodium added foods also cost more than high sodium foods.
 
Holy mother of balls Jverne, this is the first thing that you've posted that I can agree with or relate to.

It drives me nuts. I get the why, but it's still infuriating. IT IS NOT REFINED

WHY IS IT MORE
 
people think 'raw' foods are healthier, so they're willing to pay more for them. Water fountains are free, but people still pay $1.25 at vending machines for purified water.
 
in the US, healthy food is expensive though and unhealthy is really cheap. go to Canada and it seems the exact opposite from my experience
 
Isn't unrefined a bit more blocky, so doesn't pack as tightly?
 
i find it funny that we buy bottled water...some things should just be healthy AND free.
 
i used to love adding sugar to corn flakes when my mother didn't buy frosted flakes...also powdered sugar is so delicious
 
Eejit said:
Isn't unrefined a bit more blocky, so doesn't pack as tightly?
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Not really, the really lovely dark brown Demerara sugar is squashy and packs tight. Damn them makin' my tasty molasses sugar all expensive
 
The whole "white/refined sugar and flour" thing started when the Black Plague appeared, and people needed to keep rats and other plague carriers out of their houses and food. The solution was to "refine" the flour so that it appeared white. The rats stopped sneaking into people's pantries because they didn't recognise white flour as actual food, and since everyone was already living in squalor, nobody noticed for about 300 years that white flour is nowhere near as nutritious as whole flour. I assume the same thing happened to sugar, but it might have been refined to make it pure and unhealthily delicious.

Since then, everyone uses white sugar and white flour because that's what we've always used. Recipes call for them, every store sells them. So whole flour and unrefined sugar are "luxury goods" in a sense, because the mass-production food industry isn't set up to handle large amounts of unrefined flour and sugar.
 
Rizzo said:
The hell does anyone need sugar for anyway?
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For my incredible strength, equivalent to the strength of ten men, each with the strength of 1/10th of a man

Is that plague story really true, Stigmata?
 
The reason it's expensive is simple: economy of scale. Not many people want it, so not many people buy unrefined goods. Hence, it's more expensive. Has this seriously not occurred to you jverne?

I will say that at least you made a thread that makes sense, though.
 
Supply and demand.

Refined sugar is processed in huge quantities by efficient machinery and there is a large industrial demand for it. It is somewhat of a bulk good, and that is why it is so cheap.

Unrefined sugar is more of a specialty item sold to a more selective set of consumers by a smaller set of distributors. Since there is not much demand, and relatively low production, producers have to up the unit price to make up for their losses.
 
jondy said:
Holy mother of balls Jverne, this is the first thing that you've posted that I can agree with or relate to.

It drives me nuts. I get the why, but it's still infuriating. IT IS NOT REFINED

WHY IS IT MORE
Click to expand...

This. First Jverne post that made sense to me.
 
Could anyone tell me the difference of refined and unrefined sugars? Are there any additives or shit?> Shit?
 
15357 said:
Could anyone tell me the difference of refined and unrefined sugars? Are there any additives or shit?> Shit?
Click to expand...

–adjective
1. freed or free from coarseness, vulgarity, etc.: refined taste.
2. freed from impurities: refined sugar.
 
theotherguy said:
Supply and demand.

Refined sugar is processed in huge quantities by efficient machinery and there is a large industrial demand for it. It is somewhat of a bulk good, and that is why it is so cheap.

Unrefined sugar is more of a specialty item sold to a more selective set of consumers by a smaller set of distributors. Since there is not much demand, and relatively low production, producers have to up the unit price to make up for their losses.
Click to expand...

Ding ding ding, we have a winner! I alluded to this earlier, but I felt like being a sarcastic jerk, rather than actually fully explaining it.
 
xcellerate said:
people think 'raw' foods are healthier, so they're willing to pay more for them. Water fountains are free, but people still pay $1.25 at vending machines for purified water.
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Zing, end thread.

Marketing is messed up. I remember when living in Dubai 10-or-so years ago, a litre of water was more expensive than a litre of petrol.

And you can buy bottled water for about £5 these days, some people pay even more.

We are just walking...gullable slaves to the wage?
 
Because people are willing to pay more for it. Production costs are irrelevant.
 
15357 said:
Could anyone tell me the difference of refined and unrefined sugars? Are there any additives or shit?> Shit?
Click to expand...

They basically make it all nice and pretty white like people like... just like they do with bleached flour and other things. Appearance is everything... people seem to hate brown, moderately irregular colored foods, even though those foods are typically the best for you.

But nooo... they have to make everything all nice and uniform and... white.
 
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